CRDL's realization
by papyLaPlage
Summary: Have you ever wondered why principal Ozpin took people like CRDL in Beacon, the most prestigious hunter school? I personally think that he's able to see someone's worth, beyond age (Ruby), inexperience (Jaune), or mistakes (Cardin). This story follows the latter's kind. It's about bullies who will slowly become better people. Welcome to CRDL's realization!
1. Chapter 1 - Field Trip

_**Just some quick notes on this story: This is an alternate timeline, which starts at the same time as the episode sharing its name with this chapter. All the RWBY cast stay the same personnality-wise. Don't like Cardin? Neither do I, but I also dislike the fact that too much fics picture him and his team as hopeless bullies, or sandbags. So here's my attempt at giving them depth. Hope you'll enjoy discovering the show's events from another point of view.**_

 _ **V2 note: Dove is now mute. Rock will change to be less of a Mary-Sue. Cardin is an even bigger asshole at first.**_

* * *

Chapter 1 - Field Trip

"This assignement sucks."

-Uh... Cardin? You were not saying that this morning..." Russel remarked.

"It was before I learned that we would accompany _her._ " The leader said, visibly annoyed. He may have considered women unfit for the job before, but after a lot of verbal hammering from proffessor Oobleck, he was forced to face the fact that there sure were huntresses of talent in the history of Remnant.

Team CRDL chose the observation mission with their own criteria: the most badass-sounding name for the leading _male_ hunter. The winner was a certain 'Rock Maverick'.

"Who would call a girl 'Rock'?" Cardin of them all held expectations so high that he couldn't accept their virility model's gender. "Where was her parents' fuckin' common sense?

-It was my father's idea If you really wish to know." The huntress made her presence known to the group of teenagers. "As for the common sense, I still wonder where myself."

They wanted a strong and cool-looking fighter and that's what they got:

Rock was an athletic woman, standing taller than all the boys except the orange-haired leader. They could tell that she was exercising regularly, harboring more muscle mass than the average huntress. She was wearing a tight black and lightly armored suit, with black cargo pants and dark leather knee-high combat boots. The highlights of her various pieces of armor and clothing were of a deep blue.

"Could have been worse." Russel whispered, grinning while eying her shapes. There was no doubt that under the rough wrapping was a strong, but beautiful body.

"Still not what I wanted." Cardin told him. He was staring at her face, and more precisely her eyes, which were very uncommon: of a piercing white, with a slight rosy tint. Intimidating, but also strangely mesmerizing…

She had pale healthy skin, and a chiseled-but-feminin face. Her jet-black hair was spiked and swept back, down to her neck were it was tied in a tress, which ended near the end of her back.

"Speak for yoursel-Urgh!" Cardin's elbow in his side stopped Russel from further undressing her mentally.

"Well guys, hope you're ready 'cause we're going right now." She began to walk to the Bullhead, and then added: "We'll keep things simple and go by the first names, so Rock is fine. Okay?

-Yes Ma'm" Cardin's automated answer made her sigh. She knew there was some 'Goodwitch' behind it.

After that, all went smoothly despite team CRDL's prior disappointment. They, all but Cardin, chatted along the 3 hours flight toward south west Vale. They landed in the last town before the great Evergreen forest. Its apple green thread of foliages was well-known as an inspiring sight for artists, but also for housing some of the largest packs of Grimms known to mankind.

Architecture-wise, the buildings were a mix of the main city's and the SDC's, "white" and "metallic" beeing the first words one would use to describe them. And so was the office they met the mayor in, to get further explanations about their task. The boys weren't paying much attention to the old man's speech, but understood at least the fact that there was some digging done in the area.

And each time, the same song. When searching dust, you find Grimms. In this case it was a group of Beowolves.

It took less than an hour for them to find the pack. 20 individuals at best, without even an alpha in their ranks. "Piece of cake, right?" Said Sky, with apprehension though.

And all in all, even he managed to kill 2 of them. 3 more fell for each of the remaining members.

And that's when Rock made her first move of the day. After observing the teenagers, she decided to show them a bit of her capabilities.

She used her dust whip, which was literally cutting through air as it striked. Its intimidating sound ranged from a high-pitched bird-of-prey-like howl when attacking, to a low but menacing growl when standing ready. Dust sparks on the tip threatened to volatilize anything that it would come in contact with.

As the boys learned during the flight, 'Moira's caress' was its official name. However, she preferred a lot 'death's middle finger', or simply 'middle finger', but the chief armorer back at Beacon refused to register a name he deemed 'extremely vulgar'.

Well, she wasn't a student anymore, so 'middle finger' was now causing havoc in the pack. Each of its precise strikes chopping off limbs of the creatures in a gory fashion, as it seemed like some powerful subdermal explosive device was at work.

If it wasn't enough already, all the Beowolves had sustained at least one of her attacks, and those that still had at least their heads and torsos were writhing on the ground as if hellfire was burning them from the inside until they finally died.

She proceeded to eliminate the remaining ones, and some extras species which were attracted by the racket. All the while, the huntress looked unfazed, and nether bothered with any unnecessary movement. This was but a boring game to her.

"Doesn't she... Rock? Uh?" Russel checked if his bad pun had the expected effect. None of his teammates bothered to laugh as they were observing the onslaught before them.

"Yeah..." Cardin responded, having at least understood the basic meaning of the question. He wanted to witness a strong warrior obliterate any opposition, and he did. The whip wasn't his weapon of choice, but there was something in its raw cruelty and the way it induced fear that just struck a chord for him.

The forest finally became silent. "Well, that must be all of them. Come on guys! Let's move!" Rock ordered.

The team quietly began to follow her. They reached the town half an hour later, ready to take off.

At least that's what they thought, but Rock avoided the way to the landing pad, and instead headed to another part of the forest.

"Hey! Where are we going?" Asked Cardin, surprised by the sudden and unexpected change of direction.

"You didn't expect to complete this in less than one day, did you?" Answered Rock, almost sighing through the whole sentence.

"But, we did what they asked us!" Sky added. The less he saw of the Grimm, the happier he was.

"True, but you did come here to observe, and more importantly learn! I was a student once too you know? I know that if I let you all go back to Beacon, you're gonna spend the rest of the week dozing off." They all avoided her stare, their embarrassment clearly showing after beeing found out.

"That's not fair! This wasn't on the mission summary!" Sky used the most logical argument he could come up with now.

Rock took out her scroll and typed on the screen, then put it back in her pocket, resuming her strides.

Seconds after, all of CRDL's scrolls vibrated. They all took them, and looked at the notification, wide-eyed: A new mission order.

"Now it is." Came Rock's voice, now disappearing in the darkening forest.

* * *

All the boys were mumbling, cursing through the whole walk, before they met their destination.

Rock was leading them to a second village hidden deep into the Evergreen forest, occupying the only glade it had. The trees were now sporting deep green leaves, the sun barely able to light the path through them.

Sky checked the mission summary once again. "Grimms reports… village threatened… Ursai…" And the he tentatively asked "Weren't there other hunters to do the job?", desperately wanting to find an flaw in her plan.

"Actually, I was the one who volunteered. Since the first mission was largely overestimated…"

Everybody in team CRDL froze a second. The huntress had taken out twenty Beowolves and other unlucky Grimm without breaking a sweat only a few moments ago, demonstrating a terrifying know-how in killing.

"... I decided to go on this other one since it wasn't that far! And this time, it's not just petty Beowolves..." They stopped, and she looked at them with a malicious grin. "We're talking about Ursai here.

Oh no..." Sky faltered.

"Problem?" she asked.

"Nothing" said Cardin, not wanting to remember the painful experience he once had in Forever Fall.

They all continued silently until they reached the center of the small gathering of rudely constructed houses, the equivalent of a main plaza. Someone who looked like a wise elder soon came out of one of the wooden constructions.

It took a moment for the boys to notice while he was talking with the huntress, but when they did they irked visibly.

"That's a Faunus" Cardin whispered. He felt his blood warm up several degrees.

It wasn't all. Soon, a lot of them emerged from everywhere, staring at them, but still somehow hiding behind what they could.

"That's a fuckin' freak fair! She led us into a fuckin' freak fair!" He hissed, his friends tensing along with him.

"Is there a problem?" Rock had just finished her discussion and was eying them one brow raised, suspiciously.

"We're not going." The orange-haired leader said, flatly.

"What, you scared?" Rock told him, hoping to get him and his teammates to go by teasing. It often worked.

"Yeah, yeah, we're scared." His emotionless reply, and the silence of his frowing comrades screamed "We don't care".

She frowned, taking a dark expression.

Their hateful eyes… She knew exactly what the problem was: Racism. Faunus haters. She did not have the time nor was it her role to talk this out.

In fact, she nearly lost all empathy for them the moment she learned that. _Best to go alone, the quicker I do it, the faster I get rid of them..._ She thought.

"Alright, stay here then, there's an inn free for us to use on our stay. No accidents. I'll be back soon..." She then headed for the forest. "Cowards." She said out after several steps, loud enough for them to hear, and for her to calm herself.

"Freak-loving bitch…" Uttered Cardin, beeing careful not to be heard.

* * *

Sitting around a table in the empty inn's hall, they were all grudging, calling the huntress crude names in a vain effort to calm themselves. They spent nearly two hours there, and there was no sign of her coming back.

Then they heard clamors. They all broke out of their slurring game, ears on the lookout, and heads carefully protruding from a window. They soon heard the roars of Ursai nearby, only to confirm their presence as all the villagers went into hiding. All, except one...

All the villagers witnessed a little Faunus boy who tripped while trying to reach the nearest house, only to stop, frozen solid, as the the shadow of one of the huge beasts was drawing dangerously near.

"Fitting." Cardin spoke cruelly. He had no concern. Grimm are animals and are evil, a menace. Faunus are animals, looking like humans, but definitely animals. When humanity will understand what they may be hiding, it will be too late.

He was the only one in the team who seemed to enjoy that. The others had more concern about their own lives. Nevertheless, he was going to make himself comfy watching the wicked show.

The boy's end was just seconds away. And that's when an unexpected memory resurfaced from the depths of his mind. The depths he wished he could forget.

Red leaves falling. A forest full of trees stuck in an everlasting Autumn. Forever Fall.

He was once at the mercy of an Ursa too, this expression not even fitting since Grimm always kill their prey. He went to a simple red sap gathering assignment, which could have ended in a grave. But maybe the worst was the fact that he was saved by the very wimp he and his teammates were constantly bullying.

Jaune had demonstrated remarkable fighting qualities when cornered, earning a bit of Cardin's respect. In return of his rescue, the blonde boy had only asked one thing: " _Don't mess up with my team. Ever. Again. Got it?_ "

The orange-haired leader could only comply with the request. He now had a life debt, and as much as he disliked the person he owed it to, he swore to respect it. As a true hunter, and someone worthy of the Winchester name.

He had once been in the Faunus boy's position, helpless against the giant Grimm. But he had had someone to save him... This someone was weak, but he stood nonetheless. What would he do now? Would he step in and gather honors again? What would Jaune do?

"I'm not like him." Cardin mumbled between his clenched teeth. He stopped shaking as even more memory flashes and thoughts struck his mind one after another. They all had the same blonde knight in them.

"I'm not like him!" He shouted as the fear was somehow overrun by rage, a desperate rage, and he bursted through the door to rush at the Ursa. There was no plan. It was an idiotic tantrum.

He exchanged blows with the creature, Mace against claws. Heavy blows, frightening blows. He felt all the raw power, enough to tear his limbs off effortlessly.

Cardin was heavily focused, one mistake and everything would end. His mace was capable of fending off the huge claws, but for how long? He hadn't been scratched yet. "For the best...! Urgh!" As he rolled to the side dodging a particularly heavy claw swipe, he felt a subtle flare of pain from an old wound he beared on his right hip. "Fuck! All because of...!"

Because of a huntress of talent in brown and bronze armor. Pyrrha Nikos.

The fight Cardin had with her during the combat class was replaying before him.

A spear and shield, lightning fast strikes. Those where dangerous, impossible to react to, and extremely painful. If their wielder would have been ordered to kill him, she could have. Severe bruises were the reminders left of his fight against the invincible girl. The Ursa's attacks were dangerous, deadly, but... SHE was the strongest opponent he ever fought head-on, this Ursa suddenly seemed... manageable.

"I've seen worst, beast!" he shouted fiercely.

Deflecting the Ursa's next blow, he managed to land a powerful explosive strike, killing his opponent. "Yeah! What do you think of th-URGH!" He did not see the second Ursa charging from behind and throwing him into a nearby wall.

"You kiddin' me? How didn't he see it coming?!" Russel nearly shouted, him and the rest of Cardin's gang trying to observe the scene without beeing seen.

Dove tapped his own elbow twice, and the green-haired boy understood right away. Their leader had always been like a bull. Once enraged, he won't see anything past his target. And the silent boy experienced this fact firsthand during their fight against the invincible girl.

And now they were seeing Cardin downed by an Ursa for the second time, and another one was already in sight! They could only whisper, "Oh, Dust..." and shake teeth.

Until Cardin bursted into rage. "Come on beasts!" Trying to get up, his eyes were showing fear, but there was something else, something stronger…

Resolve.

"If I can't overcome this, then what good am I? Hell! I refuse to be left behind! I'm better than this fucking Jauney boy!" The Ursa wasn't fazed the least by the leader's monologue, and he took a second blow. His scroll played an alarm tune, signaling that his Aura was now in the red. The next strike would now be his doom.

But the speech had successfully galvanized his team members. They all somehow shared his feelings about _one_ thing, "Worse than Jaune? No way!" and went straight to the fight.

"Take thaaaaaat!" shouted Russel, as the attacking Ursa was thrown off-balance by his spin powered dropkick. Dove then went slashing some joints on the left leg and arm of the creature, further luring him away from their leader.

Cardin took the occasion to stand up and target the second one who was already on him. He dodged a blow by rolling and ignoring the pain, and faced the beast again.

"Cardin, now!" Sky called's. His carefuly aimed shot from his rifle-halberd took the monster by surprise and cracked its mask. It was smashed soon afterward as the explosive mace connected.

The two others were able to keep the first enemy busy, but Russel was hit and thrown into Dove, the latter managing to flip and land on his feet. The huge mass was already charging at them though and his green-haired teammate had not recovered yet.

Dove desperately fired his revolver-sword, hoping to slow the Ursa, but it did nothing. Bracing for the impact, he was pushed aside by Russel, the two of them barely escaping the initial assault.

The shadow of the soon-to-fall monstrous claws covered them, they won't be lucky this time. All colors were draining from their faces.

Another rifle shot was heard, shattering the creature's mask. And then its legs were torn by an explosive wave. Sky and Cardin brought them victory on a gold plate.

Now kneeling, the head of the beast met the blades of Russel and Dove point blank. It emitted a muffled raging roar, before its eyes lost their glow and the huge creature fell, finally dead.

* * *

 _ **It's just the beginning. If you liked it, or if you're just curious, please follow!  
**_

 _ **If you're wondering: I'm trying to stay as close to the show as I can, because I wish the elements of this story to be canon. And then  
**_

 _ **Many thanks to Ziiroh for betaing my story, correcting my frenglish, and suggesting me many useful improvements.**_

 _ **And then many thanks to**_ ** _Blood Shinobi for pointing out the hard way (Weiss would have been proud of you) that I still have a lot to learn when it comes to write in proper English._**


	2. Chapter 2 - Cold Sweat

**V2: Velvet won't stutter anymore, and Cardin's reactions in this chapter are colder than before.  
**

* * *

Chapter 2 - Cold Sweat

"Wow... We did it!" Russel sounded unsure as he said that, scanning the nearby trees and bushes with fearful eyes, hoping not to see any other monstrosities appear.

Dove gave him a tap on the shoulder, as to say "I think so".

After a minute, clamors began rising, cheerings. All the villagers came rushing to them, some smiling, some crying tears of joy. "Thank you hunters! Thank you!"

Cardin hated Faunus, he was trying hard not to lash out on the crowd. There was something preventing him from doing so: Their eyes, their smiles, their words... They were nothing like the other missions he saw, where the sponsor would only give the recompense, and shake hands like it was a common occurrence, or some kind of mercantile transaction.

That wasn't the case here. He gave it no credit due to them beeing Faunus, but he was still able to grasp what they were expressing: True thanks, and recognition as a hunter.

The kid he ended up saving grabbed his leg in an attempt to get his attention.

Cardin was ready to shake him off. "Hey! Back o...!

-Cardin!" He was interrupted by Rock, who just appeared from seemingly nowhere. His face showed anger and disgust as he looked at her.

"Are you sure you should be feeling that way? Those people, you saved their lives. They want to thank you as a hunt...

-They aren't... they aren't people!" He growled that, and glared at all the villagers around, effectively scaring the young Faunus which jumped back, tears forming in his eyes.

"They..." Cardin felt his heart beat faster, he was raging, but didn't know why. He didn't even want to smash one of the beast people to calm down, or maybe was it just because he was still exhausted from the prior encounter... Ultimately, he figured out that he just wanted to get out, to leave.

"Come on guys, we're going...!" His teammates nodded and followed their leader, in an oppressive silence.

They sat in a small quiet spot near the village exit, and it took a half an hour for his boiling blood to settle down. His teammates stood silent the whole time. None of them knew what to say.

That's the time Rock chose to come back "First, guys, I must say that you did a great job against those Ursai. Those weren't alphas, but majors nonetheless. Yet you managed to take them down and save lives. I won't take in account the fact that you engaged them a little late, based on the witnesses...

"Those ungrateful bast...!" Cardin was cursing lowly, only to be interrupted.

"None of them thought so, if you must know. That's my own assumption with the timing of the related events."

He frowned, eyes looking towards the ground, until he caught the movement of Dove's hand, trying to get his attention. "What?" asked the leader.

The silent boy gave a nod toward the huntress with an accusing expression, and as always his partners were quick to catch his wordless advice. Sky voiced it aloud: "You…" his voice cracked, "You did this?!

-Let's just say I missed three of them" _On purpose._ "and it was more than enough to ruin the village." _Like hell I would ever let that happen!_ "And here I am lecturing you." _Even if you should have helped me from the start.._. _Well, I really thought you would not jump in though._

There were a lot of remarks she kept for herself, as she wasn't here to confront them. They needed teachings, experience. She saw in reports that team CRDL had had several bad encounters with Ursai. At least, they would now be able to face those properly.

Russel and Sky emitted small nervous laughs. Cardin and Dove on the other hand, were watching her intantly. None of them knew if they should be frightened by her manipulative nature, or by her carelessness.

"Oow, come one! What about a good grade?" Rock said with a smile, trying her best to look apologetic. There were no reactions. _Tssk, don't give a damn about grades I see. Then..._

"And for the one you saved, as inhuman as they can be" she told them, emphasizing the inhuman part a lot while looking at the orange-haired leader "I gave your names so they could write them on their hunters monument."

All the team's eyes went wide. Hunter's monuments are traditional memory-keepers on Remnant, sometimes statues, sometimes tablets, which harbor the names of hunters and huntresses who saved the village or city they belong to.

"They have one...?" Cardin sounded shocked. In his childhood, How many times did he go through all the names of his hometown's? Too many to count, but each time, he dreamed of his own name inscribed on it.

"Yes they have, and a quite old one." the huntress continued, "Your names are now standing next to some legendary hunters and huntresses!" She finished that sentence fist pumping. The atmosphere shifted positively, she could tell by their expressions lightening at the prospect.

Then, a multitude of voices reached their ears, intoning another of Remnant's tradition: The song of shining tomorrows.

Cardin couldn't remember nor figure out the lyrics, but he and his teammates recognized the melody, one you sing to children to promise them better days, and one you sing to thank hunters for granting you the chance to see those.

Finding this childish at first, he forgot that thought as the beautiful alliance all those voice made somehow managed to reach his heart. The warmth he felt was quickly eclipsed as he remembered… There was a time he did enjoy to sing it, but not anymore.

"Rewarding, isn't it?" She said at his ear, effectively startling the deep thinking leader.

He couldn't bring himself to retaliate harshly. He coldly resorted to his motto instead, "They are...

-If you didn't know before, could you figure out whom of Faunus or humans would be singing now?

-Of course I..." Cardin paused several seconds. Of course he couldn't, but to admit it... To admit it was to lose the game of judgement and positions the huntress had been playing with his team.

Then he noticed her slowly clapping with a sad smile, "Well, congratulations... I sure can't."

* * *

She made them wait until the end of the song, and took the path back to the first town, where they would stay the night and then go back to beacon by aircraft.

None of CRDL could find sleep, all in their beds, eyes open.

After a while, Russel spoke, surprising the others. "Man, I don't want this to happen ever again."

Cardin grumbled a "you bet..." and Dove merely nodded while sighing.

"I think I would like to, actually." This was Sky's turn to surprise them. He didn't say that with much assurance, but they could tell he wasn't joking.

"Seriously, man?" his green-haired teammate said, while moving to a sitting position.

"Yeah, seriously." Sky paused a moment, then continued "It's like, the first time I was useful in battle..."

The others remembered their words of thanks on their way to the inn. After all, both Sky's shots saved them, and sealed victory against the duo of Grimm.

"I know I'm not that strong or anything..." the blue-haired admitted "...but still, I'm part of the group, you know?"

They all went into an awkward silence, Cardin nearly broke it with an idiotic "Gaaaay!" but even he, reading the mood, felt it was inappropriate.

"Hey, you two!" He startled Russel and Dove, who looked at him with scared eyes. "Thank you too, you saved my skin back then."

The two looked at each other, stunned. Russel spoke first: "No problem, man.

-You're welcome" meant the silent boy's smiling nod.

This embarrassed Cardin. His previously unsaid comment about Sky could now be used against him, So he cleared his throat and answered as casually as he could "Yeah, yeah, right!"

And with that, he let himself fall onto the sheets again, soon followed by the others.

"Again, uh...?" And with those words the leader fell asleep.

* * *

Back at Beacon, they all heard the story about Vale's recent crisis.

"Hey, do you remember those girls with the tiny leader? Some say they were on first line!

-No way, you sure?"

-Hey, I wasn't there! But I saw Pyrrha Nikos' team boarding a Bullhead and fly right in!

"It must have been enormous, there were even teachers and second years!" Were some of the various comments they heard.

Speaking of second years, a certain rabbit Faunus soon reached Cardin's sight. _Great, I needed some stress relief!_ And with that he butted into Velvet, making her fall and having it look like an accident.

"Ooops, sorry!" His teammates laughed at his false excuse until her own friends Coco, Fox and Yatsuhashi appeared just behind her.

"You okay?" The stylish leader helped her friend back on her feet. "Yes..." She glared daggers at Cardin, eying his badly-hidden trembling frame, until she smirked and turned away. "Well, those cowards were hiding during the crisis. What would you expect now?"

"Hey! We weren't here you know!" Cardin shouted.

"Ooh? Really? Then where, muscle brain?

-We..." Cardin paused, sure they killed 3 Ursai, but that was nothing compared to teams RWBY or JNPR and their previous week's Grimm count. Moreover, he certainly didn't want to brag about saving Faunus. "We were still on the observation assignment.

-Yeah, the extremely dangerous task of following a professional hunter kill some low-level Grimms alright..." Coco was clearly making fun of them.

He was stuck there, angered but impotent, the whole scene looking like a deja-vu, him having no argument nor presence against the second year leader. Fortunately for him, CFVY left with no further mocking.

Cardin stared at the ground a full minute, then smashed his fist in the adjacent wall. "Fuck!

-Damaging school properties _and_ cursing Mr. Winchester?" Glynda Goodwitch made her presence known. "I suggest you get a hold on your nerves before I calm them with some chores!

-I'm sorry Ma'm, this won't happen again.

-Good." The headmistress left, the intimidating sound of her high heel boots fading away.

"Wow, Cardin, did you see?" Russel's voice remained low even with the menace gone.

"Yeah, she sure went easy on me this time...

Dove tapped tapped on his leader's shoulder, then directed his attention to the wall. A fist mark was cleanly carved in it.

"What the..." Cardin wondered. They all gathered around and examined it.

No doubt, it was their leader's hand which did this.

Dove ever scrutinizing eyes were now slightly open with surprise.

"That's..." The orange-haired boy felt unsure at first. He looked at his hand, the front then the back. "... Interesting." He smiled, satisfied of his handiwork.

This discovery remained the sole topic of their conversation all throughout dinner and as they returned to their dorm.

"Hey Cardin, it may be... It may be your semblance!" Sky was showing a lot of enthusiasm, contrasting with his usually shallow behaviour.

"You think so?" Cardin said curiously.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure..." The blue haired boy turned to Dove and Russel for confirmation. "...I saw your hand glow slightly before you punched the wall. Man, I was scared! I thought Goodwitch saw the mark!

-Won't she know that it's you when she'll discover it later?

-Shit Russ'! Like you needed to remind me!" This may have sounded like a threat, but all of them were not in their normal state.

For the first time in ages, they didn't talk about who to target, which prank to pull, who was the girl with the best 'assets'...

No, they were excited: they faced and killed three great Ursai, and now their leader may have gotten a grasp of mankind's greatest power, Semblance.

Sure, learning that their 'rivals' sustained epic fights wasn't the best thing that could happen to them, but...

"THIS is the beginning of something big, guys..." Said CRDL's leader, looking again at his clenched fist, the proof that a new wind may be blowing their way.

* * *

 _ **Back at Beacon, a**_ _ ** _ **t last**_. If you liked it, or if you're just curious, please follow! The continuation will come soon...**_

 ** _I'm searching betas for this story, please PM me if you're interested!_**


	3. Chapter 3 - Perspectives

Chapter 3 - Perspectives

"Team CRDL, to the principal's office, team CRDL..." the order echoed through the school. In the middle of breakfast, Cardin told his teammates "Well, they will wait 'til we..." and with that he met Glynda's commanding glare at the cantina gate. "... Never mind..."

They followed the silent headmistress, except for the ever so intimidating sound of her high heels, all the way to Ozpin's office. Once there, they all entered the huge circular room, expecting the worst and absolutely not ready for it.

"Good morning students." Ozpin's tone was neutral as always. He rotated his chair until he faced the young team. According to his calm demeanor, it seemed that they weren't going to be beaten...

"Good morning sir." They all answered, in as stiff of a manner as their tensed posture.

The principal emitted a small laugh "Stand down boys. We're not at the army." His tone was kind, inviting them to relax. "You're students, hunters-to-be. I'm not here to blame you. Or am I?"

This last part made all of CRDL gulp, Ozpin literally proceeded to take control of the mood in the office before leading the act where he wanted. "I summoned you here so we could discuss of this matter." And with those words, a picture of Cardin's fist mark appeared on all the screens.

"Fffffu…" The leader's blood froze, and he muffled his swearing as much as he could.

"Mister Winchester. In normal circumstances, I would have made you repair this and some other school equipement as punishment. However, both Mrs. Goodwitch and myself agreed on a fact that will spare you from this."

All the team was relieved, but in the same time they stood focused, waiting for the revelation.

"This mark has none of the signs of being forcefully carved. A good hunter sure could have left a hole in the wall with an aura-empowered punch, but literally printing a clean fist mark without any cracks or other damages? Impossible."

He was now standing in front of them, and like any teacher he pointed at the evidence on the largest screen with his cane, as if it were a note-covered chalkboard.

"Until you made it possible, Mr. Winchester." The headmaster then highlighted the picture more intantly to further his point. "This is the work of one of mankind's greatest mysteries, which can bend logic in ways no one could have thought possible. This is the work of a Semblance.

-YES!" Cardin exclaimed. His fist still clenched, he soon took note of his over-enthusiastic reaction, and resumed his previous stance, but couldn't contain a proud grin.

"Mr. Winchester!" Glynda was ready to reprimand him, but Ozpin intervened: "Glynda, let this pass please. I'm sure we all had this kind of reaction when discovering ours."

And indeed, the team leader could barely conceal his excitement. One could swear he was on his second liter of caffein.

"However, due to the potential dangers of your semblance, we will have to suspend you from battle classes until you further discover and then learn how to use it.

-What about us?" Russel asked, nearly interrupting the principal's speech. The look his two other teammates gave him showing they had the same question on their lips.

"Mr. Thrush. You, Mr. Bronzewing and Mr. Lark are going to take some supplementary lessons."

"Uuuh... What for? Why?" inquired a surprised Sky.

The headmaster took a sip from his mug, and then answered "The observation assignement has you following a hunter, but it also has him teaching you things we don't cover extensively here at Beacon. In addition, they are tasked with evaluating you, and give reports on your capabilities, including your weaknesses. Then we, at the academy, will use this knowledge to help you improve.

-Sorry guys!" Cardin said to them with a hint of glee.

"The reports mention you too, Mr Winchester." Glynda reprimanded.

"Tssk…" The orange-haired boy deflated.

"Well, we're still scheduling those special lessons. You should be notified this evening, so please check your scrolls. Any questions?" Ozpin observed each boy expectantly.

They stayed silent. The sooner they were out the better.

He then concluded "Very well then. You're dismissed."

* * *

The meeting allowed CRDL to miss a good bit of professor Port's class, not that they would complain anyway. After that were mostly combat-related classes, so the boys met in the team's dorm room in a better mood than ordinary. Their leader was still on his way from the other end of the campus when the notifications arrived.

"So, what do you guys have?" Sky asked.

Dove showed him his scroll, and his friend read "Grimm study". The silent boy didn't seem very thrilled by the idea, as this header usually meant 'Port-ish' monologues.

"And you, Russel?

-…" The green-haired boy looked at his scroll too, opened his mouth to answer, but ultimately changed his mind and stayed silent.

"Russ'?" Sky tried again.

"...Nothing."

He could have responded any existing lesson, but he chose the wrong answer...

Dove gestured his interest too.

"Nothing, doesn't matter" Russel chose the wrong answer, again...

His comrades slowly approached him, determined to snatch the scroll.

"Oh, you're going to show us." was written on their faces, along with mischievous smiles.

"No! Nonono! Nooooooo!" Resistance was futile, and the winning duo soon bursted into laughter upon learning Russel's special lesson.

"No way man. Pfffff! Dance! Really? Mwaahahaha!

-...The hell!" Red like roses, Russel hid himself under his pillow hoping to muffle his teammates' commentaries. At first, it worked, then they became gradually silent.

"What are they doing?" He pulled his head from under the white mass to see what they were up to... Going through the picture folder of his scroll!

Dove stopped on particular picture, and then showed it to Sky.

"I'm sure I saw her somewhere... You know? With this 'Mercurial' guy..."

"Noooooo!" Russel took them by surprise and snatched the scroll back and made sure that they would not catch it ever again.

It was easy to understand Dove's slightly mocking smile. Sky voiced his partner in crime's question: "So, who is she?

-Whatcha talking about?" It was Cardin, entering the room.

"You'll never gue..." Sky posed slightly "Cardin! You're late!" he said, looking at his own scroll clock. "Where were you?

-Scouting." his leader told them, nonchalantly. Luckily for Russel, the main topics changed before it could get any worse.

Dove lifted a brow, drawing out a vexed reaction from the orange-haired knight "Yeah Seriously! What are you insinuating?

-We usually don't care that much about assignments and the likes. That's all!" This rational, but still timid answer from Sky eased the tension.

"So, scouting, yes. Scouting for the tournament!" Cardin said enthusiastically.

"You mean, the tournament where the blonde burning chick, the heartless ice queen, or even the invincible girl are participating?" his blue-haired teammate sounded quite pessimistic.

"Yes, that's the one."

Dove gave him a disapproving look, joining Sky's attempt to dissuade their leader.

"Well, a month ago, I had no semblance!" Fist pumping, Cardin's assured attitude somehow brought them together.

He never gave serious thought about the future, nor did he have a serious objective. Being a hunter? A child dream… He could fight well, so he took this over being a soldier because he knew he could, but that was all.

Well, not anymore!

"...Maybe we could..." Even Sky, notably the most cowardly member of CRDL, began to show some spirit. Being left behind, the others snatching all the glory? There was no way would let that happen.

Dove and Russel shrugged. "I sure wanna win!" the latter sounded confident, a smile on his face.

"Then it's settled! Let's show them that CRDL can rule too, at the tournament!" Cardin extended his hand, inviting the whole team for a cheering high-five.

"Yeah!" Went all his partners... Well, except Russel, who was still grinning, and humming, somehow turning the mood into something comical.

"Sooo, Russel, it's about that girl right?" From one of his two previously thieving friends' mocking voices, Russel knew that we would not hear the end of it soon.

"Fuck off!"

* * *

 _ **Let's give them some hope! But not too much... You should always work hard to attain your goals.**_

 ** _Review - Follow - Favorite_**

 ** _Sooooo... As always, I REALLY need a betareader, please PM me if you're interested!_**


	4. Chapter 4 - Realization

**_If you usually skip the end note, please read it this time. It concerns this story's future. Well, with no further delay:_**

* * *

Chapter 4 - Realization

 _Do I really wanna do this?_ Dove asked himself. He was reluctant to enter, because of all of the possible teachers, they chose...

"WellHelloMrBronzewing! AreWeReadyToStart?" Oobleck's speedy rant was meant to be welcoming, but it clearly had the opposite effect on the student.

"QuicklyTakeYourSeatMrBronzewing. Today'sLessonWillBeFocusingOnArmoredGrimms. IHeardYouEncounteredSomeOnYourLastAssignementIsThatRight?

The student nodded.

-WhatWhereThey? BeMorePrecisePlease! PrecisionSavesLives!"

 _Great..._ Dove was already starting to regret this...

* * *

Sky was going through the large shelves of the armory. "Equipment creation and maintenance." He murmured the quite long heading of this particular lesson several times, before stopping not far from the rows of workbenches forming the equivalent of a classroom.

"Mr. Lark?" Called Mr. Nibel, the teacher in charge of all manufacturing-related activities in Beacon. He had a similar build to professor Port's, but brown combed hair, a long beard, and had traded the academy uniform top for a white tank top. One could easily be intimidated by his bronze complexion, but his shiny brown eyes were fortunately telling people to feel otherwise.

"Yes" Sky straightened.

"Welcome, Mr. Lark!" He gave him a warm smile. "We don't often get students in this classroom outside of normal schedules!" He then turned to an already working form on one of the benches. "Mrs. Rose, could you greet our guest please?"

Ruby stopped in her tracks, then she and Sky looked at each other. He knew exactly who she and her dangerous teammates were, and maintained a facade, cursing inside.

"Oh hello, hum…" she stumbled, visibly trying her best to recall him.

-This is Sky Lark." Mr. Nibel introduced him.

"Uh, well... Hello Sky!" She gave him an embarrassed smile.

"She doesn't even remember me..." He was mentally cursing even further. Still, he sat at the workbench next to her, to make good figure. "H...Hello Mrs..."

-This is Ruby Rose. One of my top students!" He was now laughing like a loving grandpa, further embarrassing her.

They began to listen and take notes about some ammunition manufacturing and effects, when she whispered to him "Hey... Do... Do you like weapons?"

* * *

"... The fuck am I doing?" Russel was striving to not run away from this strange class. "How the fuck will dance help me anyway?"

-Mr. Thrush?" He jumped from the surprise call. The dance teacher, Mrs. Candela, seemingly appeared from nowhere. The woman had shoulder length orange hair with numerous blond locks, a lightly tanned complexion, and round cerulean eyes which were scrutinizing the newcomer from head to toe.

"Uuuh Yes!" Was the student's late answer.

"Please, come in, we were waiting for you" The teacher made a swift turn, her long white flamenco dress flying, following the momentum, before settling down with she entering the classroom.

"Wait, we?" Russel's eyes widened in fear.

"Yes, we! What? You thought you would be alone?" In fact, he never gave a thought at all. The less he did, the better he felt.

He slowly entered the room, trying not to appear too awkward.

"I see..." The woman was scanning him, clearly disappointed. "Well, I expect you to come dressed in your uniform next time, your true uniform! Or something a bit more fitting than this rustic battle suit...

-Okay..." He liked his battle gears, but he could admit that it wasn't the best for a dance lesson. He honestly didn't know whether or not to take "rustic" as a critic.

"And I'm sorry, but could you please do something about your haircut? I would not call that classy even under torture."

"Hey!" Russel took that blow hard, but what was the most upsetting was the sheer amount of laughter which emanated from the other students.

He was ready to shoot them the meanest look he could put on, but it quickly slipped into the most embarrassed, as he acknowledged all the number of girls.

He shifted his gaze to the ground. "Well, here goes the cool introduction..."

* * *

"Mr. Winchester..." Glynda Goodwitch granted him access to the now empty combat class room.

"Ma'm.

-professor Goodwitch." She said that calmly, but no student in all Beacon would have tempted her twice.

"Professor...

-I will explain the basis of this lesson, your partner already went through this presentation so it is important that I fill you in quickly.

-Wait, there's someone else?

-Yes, and you'll meet him in due time..." Glynda paused a moment. "Mr. Winchester, can you tell me what happened the day your semblance manifested itself for the first time?"

"I punched a wall." It showed that Cardin wasn't seeing the point of this question.

"That much I know." The sorceress sighed audibly. "I was talking about your mindset, your emotions. There are several triggers for a semblance. Some people can activate it conscientiously, some react to external stimuli like stress or aggression, and some need a particular state, be it physical or psychical, to activate it. I have reasons to think yours belong to the latter."

He took a moment before responding "I was angry.

-Why?

-Because..." he searched the words he would use, reminiscing the event. "People made fun of me, people belittled me." His face was starting to show the aforementioned anger.

"And then, there was a reaction I suppose? The wall wasn't belittling you after all?"

Cardin nervously smirked, then responded: "I wanted to show them... That I'm strong and that... They should shut their mouths."

Glynda frowned, took some notes, and then quickly resumed the conversation. "Mr. Winchester, I must warn you. You semblance may be powerful, but it seems that it is driven by dangerous feelings. Hate, Anger, Fury... They are indeed powerful tools, but...

-But?" He could already feet that it would not be so easy.

"Some people can turn those to the Grimm, but others... they will use them against their own kind.

-Well I won't, I'm not that stupid." There was honesty in his voice. Even Glynda could feel it, but she couldn't help but stealthily chuckle as she broadcasted a small part of CRDL's fight against Pyrrha.

That one part where he clearly gave Dove a Mace blow while charging at the warrior girl...

Cardin understood right away her insinuation. "Oh, right...

-I think that you honestly would not harm your companions, nor humans. But would it be the same with our fellow Faunus?

Cardin hissed at the mention. "Only if they stay put..."

Glynda was obviously not liking this answer, however she continued: "Anyway, I want to search another way for you to use your semblance. One which would be more stable.

-Is there one?

-I think so, and I suspect that it may be similar to your partner's."

At that moment, they heard several knocks on the door.

"Speaking of which..." and with that the door opened.

"H... Hello...!"

Cardin's eyes went wide upon hearing that familiar voice. "You've got to be kidding me..."

* * *

It's been one week since CRDL started the supplementary lessons. Now that they had to work harder and longer, it drastically reduced their normal evening discussion time. They often would often fall into their beds right away, only for sleep to gain them the following minute.

The first Saturday came, and as they woke up they found themselves silent. But in fact, all of them could see that they had something on their mind.

It was Russel who broke the shell. Well, in fact it would be more exact to say that he helped Cardin break his.

"Soo, Cardin, how's all this Semblance thing going?"

-Unpleasant..."

The others were surprised by the response, Sky wanting to know more. "H... How so?"

They didn't even have so the couldn't understand his struggles. Was it really this hard to train? To use?

"I could have had any partner. Any partner to help me train, and they chose him!

-You mean...?" Russel inquired.

-The Jauney boy..." Cardin was visibly angry. "He can't even put on a fight, and Goodwitch is always telling me to go easier! I don't want to! I'm here to become stronger! He is... He is slowing me!

He understood, just from Dove's interrogating frown, that the latter wanted to know why their old favorite target was training with their leader.

"Goodwitch said... Well hinted that he had one too.

-No way!" Cardin's three teammates were clearly upset by the news. They couldn't help but panic a little at the prospect that he was ahead of them?

"I thought so too, but she was serious. She even said that we would have the same 'trigger' to use it. Well I'm not like him, I want my own way to activate it!

Dove pointed out the name Oobleck's name on his scroll, half-laughing, half-sighing. _At least, you don't have to be verbally assaulted without being able to defend..._

"Yeah..." Cardin was forced to approve, at least he could swing his mace during his lessons. "At least, you didn't have to cut your hair." And with that, they all laughed at Russel's absent mohawk.

"Fuck, man! We already went over this!" He responded, sinking his new black cap deeper on his head. "I'll have you know that I'm doing great! You won't laugh when..." Again, he should have used another kind of response, or just shut up.

"What's her name again? Emerald?" Sky slyly added.

"What are you talking about!?

The silent boy showed him from afar the results of the research they had done. He happily joined Sky on this one.

"Tssk!" Russel was between anger and embarrassment. "At least I'm not into children!" He shot an accusing glare at Sky.

"Ooh?" Cardin saw here a new file to add in his blackmail possibilities. "Tell us more?

-He's taking class with Blondie's little sister. You know, with the oversized scythe? I saw them exiting the armory!

-Leeeeeeeeewd!" The leader grinned wildly at the tomato red and wide-eyed Sky.

"Nonono! It's... She's a weapon freak! She always talks about them so much it's nauseating!" He then proceded to mimick her. "Oh this cooling chamber is amaziiiiiiing!" He emphasized the squeal. "Oh this ammunition, did you know that it could blast an Ursa's mask in one hit?"

Dove interrupted him, silently asking details about the last bit.

-Uuh, it's a Vacuo military model if I recall correctly. Why?"

The silent boy did a "Nothing..." shrug.

"Someone has problems with Ursai?" Russel grinned, somehow able to retaliate.

Dove glared at him with a dead-serious face. He pointed alternatively at his comrade and he.

His mohawk-less teammate understood his wordless claim. They nearly died that time, so he would not joke anymore on that one.

The silent boy then drew his weapon, and eyed it thoroughly with a concerned expression.

"Your weapon is… Weak? But I heard that you did quite fine against the invincible chick!" Sky's question was full of honesty. The word "heard" being the right term, since he had been knocked out early during that fight.

"She's human." Said Cardin. "A sword can do the work. But be it her shield or an Ursa bone armor, his firearm is useless"

 _Bullseye._ Dove was now frowning heavily. And then he stared at the ground. _I would be useless..._

If the room was lively a minute ago, it was now full of a heavy atmosphere. They all knew that Dove had quite a good level, so for him to be confessing a weakness was a serious matter which impacted all members.

It took a moment before Russel could manage to speak again. "So you're saying... That you need a new weapon?"

Dove stood silent, Sky however responded. "Not just him. I've been thinking about that during my lessons."

He positioned himself so he could face all his team. "I observed this Ruby girl's weapon. She even went all the way to show some of its mechanisms to me... And it was... Good..."

They all frowned, Sky then searched how to put this a better way. "It's art, guys! Honestly, her weapon is a kickass one. It put all of ours to shame! It makes me think that we did only the strict minimum our teachers back at the combat school demanded..."

They all shot embarrassed looks to the floor, facing the truth.

"So... Better weapons?" The leader spoke after a while.

"Better weapons." The rest responded.

* * *

 _ **Better weapons, yes! You'll need at least that to stand a chance!**_

 _ **Please: review - favorite - follow!**_

 _ **So, I was wondering if I should still follow the main storyline, knowing that RT will certainly not give CRDL a major/good role. Instead, I could use an original path, using some OCs, which should part sometime along the tournament arc. To the few readers who are still there: Which one should I follow? I'm waiting for your answers, PM or review!**_

 _ **Fed up with mistakes? I'm still searching a beta, PM me if your eyes are bleeding.**_


	5. Chapter 5 - Down

Chapter 5 - Down

"What is she doing here?!" Cardin looked incredulously at the additional person to their private lesson.

"Mr. Winchester, Mrs. Nikos will assist Mr. Arc for today's lesson. Don't worry, she won't take part in it, she's just observing."

Cardin didn't like that girl, but still he pondered. "If I can take that wimp down before her... Hehe!" A sadistic smile grew on his face.

He took his stance, waiting for Jaune to come. He soon realized that something was off. The blue eyes weren't showing fear.

"What the fuck?!" Cardin couldn't see any opening! He was starting to shiver. "What? It's just because she's here?"

"Proceed!" As Glynda announced the start of the round, Jaune quickly threw himself forward, shield up.

"Easy." The orange-haired knight swung his mace toward the shield. "Like always!"

The mace missed. The blond knight just ducked the blow and did a full rotation, his blade tracing a wide arc before slashing deep into his opponent's aura. He fell to his knees.

"I... I refuse!" Cardin attempted a treacherous blow on Jaune, who was eying Glynda, waiting for further instructions.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha's fearful warning resounded several times in the blonde Knight's ears. His eyes met Cardin's, and suddenly narrowed.

Time slowed down for both of them.

The shield began to glow, and positioned itself to meet the blow with unnatural speed and precision. The mace met the bright surface, and suddenly all went white.

"...

...

...n!

...in!

Cardin!"

His hearing resumed first, soon followed by his sight. Jaune was over him, hands on his shoulders, Pyrrha and Glynda watching aside.

"Stop...! Screaming...!"

"It seems he is alive, and kicking." Pyrrha's expression went from concerned to a slight amusement.

"Of course I'm alive! Urgh..." An acute pain was invading the back of his skull. "What happened?"

"It seems we found some clues on Mr Arc semblance."

"And me?" Cardin asked hopefully.

"I would say... Some clues on a total absence of self-control!" Glynda was now severely lecturing him. "What were you thinking Mr. Winchester?! Do you remember the discussion we had last week!? You were targeting a fellow human with anger!"

Shame. With the boiling gone, Cardin was now facing his own behaviour, which didn't match the conviction he sincerely expressed. He could only mutter lowly. "I..."

"You what, Mr. Winchester!?"

Shame, even greater, as he watched the blonde knight in the arms of his redhead teammate nearly sobbing. "That's not what I wanted... I just wanted to defend myself! I could have killed him...!"

"Shhh..." Pyrrha was reassuring him the best she could. "You defended yourself. You didn't use your sword, right? I know you didn't want it to end this way."

"Thanks, Pyrrha..." Jaune parted with her, shook a few times, then straightened like it was all a bad dream. He then turned toward the now standing Cardin. "You... You okay?

"I am..." The orange-haired knight couldn't look at him as he responded.

"Mrs. Nikos, could you please escort Mr. Arc back to the dorm?" Glynda instructed.

"But..."

"Please, Mrs. Nikos." Not a third time. The two teammates left the combat room, shutting the door silently behind them.

Once they did, the lecture resumed. "I am still waiting for an answer!"

"I didn't want to lose against him!" Cardin's anger seemed to flare again.

"Well, you lost on all fronts! You were expecting an easy fight, and you were then beaten fair and square for underestimating your opponent! But that's not all! Mr. Arc also bested you as you attacked him from behind, outside of a round!"

His teeth were clenching so hard it hurt him. It didn't stop the witch though. "And then, he made proof of compassion. He went to your side first as you were knocked by his attack. He regretted what he had done."

"He is weak!" He couldn't take it anymore. When would they stop to praise this blond wimp?

Glynda didn't flinch a bit, and took the coldest of tones only she could use to respond. "As of now, he is stronger than you, Mr. Winchester."

* * *

It was the evening at Beacon, and most of the teams were now resting in their rooms, following the variable amount of classes they had. Most students were relaxing, except a particular redhead, who was slowly walking the path to the border of the Emerald forest.

Pyrrha was remembering the lesson she assisted Jaune with. She was eager to, since her leader was slowly but surely grasping all the qualities she knew he possessed and could improve. Moreover, she was the one who asked the headmistress Goodwitch for information on Semblance, since Jaune started to show signs that it was developing.

"I'm sure we will discover your Semblance any day now!" She recalled herself saying to him some time ago.

Well, the girl was proud that another one of her expectations was met, and at the same time both happy for and proud of the man she crushed on.

But right now, Pyrrha was concerned. The lesson took a turn for the worst when the blonde knight brilliantly won a round against the bully Cardin Winchester. Out of rage, the latter tried to hit Jaune from behind, but he was able to react and defend himself using his newfound power. This was magnificent to her trained eye: a lightning fast reaction, a solid posture, and the shield meeting the mace with perfect accuracy. Then the light, and Cardin violently thrown against a wall. That's when he didn't respond to their calls and laid there unconscious that the blonde knight freaked out.

He ran to his old tormentor's side and tried everything he could to wake him up. Fortunately, he soon awoke, but it was both convenient and too late: Jaune witnessed the responsibility of wielding the Semblance firsthand. A difficult lesson he would have learned sooner or later, but maybe in better conditions.

The professor Goodwitch understood right away the state of her leader, and politely sent them back to their dormitory. Afterward, the redhead managed to escort the mute blonde boy to their room, where she urged him to lie down on his bed and try to rest, or at least calm himself.

She stood pained at his side all along, her heart was hurting like crazy more and more each second she stared at his sobbing frame under the sheets. It soothed her immensely when she heard his breathing become steady and the quiet snores that were emitted as he soon fell asleep.

The relieved student then left the room as quietly as possible, and headed to the cafeteria to get some food for the two of them. She wanted to explain the situation to Ren and Nora, but as soon as her hand reached her scroll, it vibrated, signaling a new message. She was ready to ignore it before her eyes landed on the sender's name.

Cardin Winchester.

"What does he want?" She thought, frowning and failing to hide her anger. "Apologize, maybe?" Her wise side still managed to surface. "Unlikely." It was the logical solution coming from her analyzation of the character.

Still on her way, she gave another glance at the message. Cardin asked her to meet him near the forest. _"Something to discuss, alone."_

Pyrrha heard and witnessed enough on him to know that he could have bad plans. She checked several times for suspicious things on her way, but spotted none.

She even messaged Ren and asked him to be sure that the rest of CRDL wasn't plotting something. He did so without question and confirmed that they were just speaking in their room.

It was just her and him, nothing she couldn't handle.

"I know it's you." Cardin said as soon as she approached.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Pyrrha was honestly surprised.

"Come on. You train him, and the day you come to the lesson he..." He paused. "He beats me?"

"So, what did you do?" However, she didn't expect those accusations.

"I did nothing..."

"Bullshit!" Cardin shouted. "I don't know how, I don't know why, but you cheated!"

"That's not true!"

"Stop... Bullshitting... ME!" Cardin drew his mace and charged at her. She easily dodged the strike which ignited chunks of earth and grass in its path.

"Hahaha! Afraid? Can't fight back?" His voice was like a mad man's. She silently drew Milo and Akuo, taking her fighting stance.

"Cooooooome oooooooooon!" He attempted a second swing, she dodged and rammed her shield in his side, throwing him off-balance.

Cardin wasn't himself anymore. He wasn't flinching, he just looked at her with a death glare. She shivered slightly, but didn't back down.

He soon attempted another attack, she parried it.

Another blow, she dodged it, the spear connecting with his torso.

Another one, parried, and the spear piercing again.

To any student, the fight should have looked like a joke. It was like a drunken man fighting a master martial artist, the latter trying to calm the first, or making him pass of exhaustion.

Pyrrha was familiar with this kind of rage, Jaune once had a similar crisis during one of their training session, and it lasted a least 20 minutes. The rage of someone feeling like a helpless sandbag, with no hope to ever progress.

She did her best to cool Cardin off without hurting him. He was now panting heavily, and would soon collapse. She would then call some of Beacon's staff, or his own team to carry him back...

"You... huffff... You're not... Invincible." He spoke those words with some clarity, which contrasted with his current state.

"Who said I was?" Pyrrha was unknowingly smiling. She rarely felt threatened, not because she was self-centered, but because nearly all her adversaries knew her reputation. Thus, they couldn't fight at full strength, because a variable amount of fear and hopelessness would always weaken them.

So, she enjoyed those last moments. The orange-haired knight wasn't under this effect, and she didn't want to scare him either. She somehow wanted this to last a bit, before he would come to fear her again once he became lucid.

"I think... huffff... I can see it!" His eyes were narrowing further at each move of this strange dance. They were analyzing her.

"hufff... A little... More range..." He nearly fell as Milo struck him again.

"And... huffff... Some speed..." An image was slowly forming in his mind.

"Yes..." Akuo's last strike brought him on his knees. He looked straight at her. "I see it." And with that, he lost consciousness.

* * *

 ** _Well, sometimes you need your ass kicked. Especially when you're Cardin, as it seems to make his brain work better._**

 _ **Please: review - favorite - follow!**_

 ** _First chapter with the help of Crimson Vein. Thank you!_**


	6. Chapter 6 - Hopes

**_Hello again. To my few faithful readers (no joke, thank you guys!), please take some time to read the end note._**

* * *

Chapter 6 - Hopes

That wasn't like him at all. All his teammates were really worried.

Since morning, Cardin had been searching through the history section of Beacon's library, going through hundreds of tomes.

"Caaard'?" Tried Russel.

And again, he wasn't responding.

 _Hopeless,_ meant Dove's shrug.

"Do you think she casted some sort of... I don't know... Dust spell? So she could control him?" Sky honestly asked.

"The fuck man?" his green-haired teammate, well for what was left of it, clearly showed him his skepticism.

His silent friend muffled laugther was clear indication of how dumb it sounded.

"But she's won 4 tournaments in a row! Who knows how she did beside her!" Sky was really trying to defend his point.

"She didn't." The leader spoke for the first time, drawing the attention of his whole team.

He took a huge volume with him, and slammed it on a nearby desk, breaking a lot of the present students' focus and making a certain black bow twitch. Some of them were ready to reprimand them, but stopped in their tracks as they figured out that it was team CRDL.

Not from fear, but because any first year student could have sworn that they would never have the nose in a book unless for an assignment or if it contained lightly-to-not-dressed girls. But here they were!

The leader flipped through the pages with determination, stopping on a particular chapter.

Dove's eyes scanned the pages, which were referencing some early History conflicts. If humans and Faunus always fought against the Grimm, there were also wars. This was one of those scarce battles between early human realms.

"Found it!" Cardin's finger pointed at a particular picture. It was a statue of an old Mistral Hero.

"So what? He's long dead!" Russel was already bored.

"I said it, not him!" He was reprimanded by his leader, the latter pointing again at a more precise part of the statue.

All of them looked carefully, and soon realised what their leader meant. Their eyes made several back and forth between the picture and him.

"You can't possibly mean…" Sky whispered.

"Oh I do! That's something I realised when fighting against that Pyrrha girl.

-Did she use dust spells?" his blue-haired teammate inquired, hoping to defend his point.

"No. That's dumb! Why would she?" the leader replied casually, ignoring Russel and Dove's subsequent hilarity. "You remember that talk we had about weapons? It was bugging me, and while fighting her it became clear. What I lacked. What mine lacked. I swear I was able to see it draw itself before my eyes! And that's..."

His finger did the gesture another time, pointing again at the huge flail-mace the ancient hero wielded.

"...It!"

* * *

"Mr. Bronzewing? Are you alright?" Dove blinked several times, making sure he heard right.

"You can go to the infirmary if you wish!" There was something off. It was Oobleck speaking, not some ordinary man.

Dove shook his head a bit, and then stood up to follow the teacher's advice.

"Don't worry, we can continue later. I must say that I am quite proud of you! You were studying diligently on our last lessons!"

There definitely was something wrong. Oobleck's words were clearly audible, separated.

The silent boy frowned, and took a quick glance at his hand to check his vision. He was surprised to find them shining feebly.

"Ohoho! It seems something interesting is taking place!" The green-haired teacher then approached him. He too saw the small aura manifestation. "Mind if I try a little something?" He then began to shake his hand wildly, extremely fast. "How many fingers?"

At first, he could not tell, and then the pace of the hand slowed down until he could figure out three fingers extended. He answered _three_ using his owns.

"Alriiiight... And now?"

Dove did the same as before. _Four...?_

Oobleck was smiling almost wickedly, it was a bit scary. "Aaaand now?"

 _"Two..._ _What's the point? I just have to wait for him to slow down and... Wow..._ Dove's vision clouded too fast for him to react. Hopefully, Oobleck's could catch him before he broke his teeth on the ground.

"Interesting! SoSheWasRight!"

* * *

"No, that's not it!" Sky erased his sketch, for the 37th time now.

"Mr. Lark?" It was Mr. Nibel, who sat next to him. "It seems you are going through a rough time with those. Would you like some help?"

Sky showed some reluctance at first, but then slowly opened. "I'm trying to create a new weapon...

-That much I understood. What was wrong with your halberd?

-I don't think I ever managed to get a clean hit with it, on something else than a training dummy that is..."

The teacher paused a little, then started to laugh loudly. "There was a least one time where you touched something, right? Ahaha!

-Actually..." He was ready to answer with the negative, then thought of some nice shots he made while he was using the rifle mode of his halberd. "I did some nice shots with it...

-Then why are you trying to..." The kind professor looked at the remaining drawings to confirm his next statement. "...to create a close-range weapon?

But, all the students are using one! My team too! I'm not a..." He paused slightly "...That coward..."

Mr. Nibel had successfully calmed himself, only to fall into complete hilarity again at this last bit. Sky was clearly embarrassed by his reaction. Then the teacher said with a more serious tone "So that's what you think?

-Uuh... Yes?

-Well, I won't say that the battle class' rules favor the long-range fighters, but you're the proof that they mislead students." He took a mental note. _The seventh already, I should talk to Oz' at this pace..._

"What do you mean?" Sky was now listening carefully.

"Well, being able to hold your own against a Grimm is indeed important. But a lot of teams are lacking a real long-range fighter. Some see those as cowards, or weaklings, but that's not the case. Try to picture that..."

With those word, he took a very serious expression, his already low voice dropping an octave. "It's the fight of the century, two teams of the best hunters Remnant could gather. The fight starts, 3 against 4. Who will win?

-I would say the team of 3, since there seem to be an obvious trap here.

-You're ruining all my effect!" The teacher tried vainly to sound obfuscated. "Well, there was a trap in both my question and the setting they were in that time." He then resumed on his serious attitude.

"The first team was composed of full contact warriors. They were good hunters, but they had an extremely direct way of seeing a fight. They first assumed that the missing opponent had fled from fear. Well that wasn't the case. He was hidden in nearby trees, hiding his presence. The fight started, and here the full contact team knew their error. As they were trying to attack, they all took stealthy and precise shots which granted the seemingly outnumbered team clean and decisive strikes.

People were expecting the fight to last at least a day, and it took only 2 minutes! Isn't that fabulous?"

Sky was pumped up. This inspired him a great lot. "Yeah, that's certainly cool!

-Isn't it? It's a shame that Beacon's current curriculum doesn't favor this kind of approach. So how about a long-range weapon?"

Even if he was obviously pushing Sky to accept, the latter already had it decided. "I think I will try, yes!"

* * *

Despite the initial mocking, Russel soon became a respected member of the dance club. One could say he was even a natural at this art.

He was going through the initial warming up when Mrs. Candela made her entrance, followed by a rather large group of students, a lot of them coming from the 3 other great hunter schools, according to their uniforms. "We have some observers today, please treat them kindly!"

He looked at the little group of people, hoping NOT to spot any known head, or worst: someone of his team.

Instead, he saw familiar green hair. "Oh no..." Slender-athletic build with tanned skin. "No..." And red eyes. "Shiiiiit...!"

The girl from Haven he had a serious crush on, Emerald, was here!

"They will be watching first. I will select some students to show what this club is capable of. Mrs. Schnee? Mr. Juni?

 _Thank you Dust!_ He was relieved. Everything but dancing in front of... Her!

With that, the music started, Weiss 'heartless' Schnee and her partner were performing on a classical piece. Ironically, the Juni guy was deemed by her to be the only one worth of dancing with her for a representation. Well best to say it was him or Russel, and Weiss disliked everything with him, from his look to his team.

With honors and clapping, the duo soon left the scene.

"Then for a little solo piece, Mr. Thrush?"

Russel's face turned blank. His mind screamed at him no to go, but his body moved on his own. He walked to the center of the scene, and stood there like he had a broom shoved up his... Some muffled laughter came from the public, then the music started.

To everyone's surprise, it was modern music, something electro-jazzy, which surprised the watchers. (Miles Davis - Doo Bop - Chocolate Chip)

Russel soon began to work his magic, gliding on the rhythm as everybody started to enjoy the show. Soon enough some clapping could be heard, and then it grew in number and loudness, following with the beat. This brought a smile on his lips as he switched his MJ-like style to breakdance.

There, all the student stood up cheering him. He was enjoying this greatly, and even mentally thanked Ozpin for the lessons. He was approaching his final move, a flip with several revolutions, he usually improvised for how many he would do, but since today SHE was here...

His eyes caught an involuntary glimpse of Emerald's at this precise moment. His heart suddenly accelerated a great deal as something in him ignited literally. A faint glow of aura surrounded him as he initiated his acrobatic finisher.

Revolutions he did, and a lot of them. They were so fast that the room was shaken by a sudden gust of wind. And then he landed perfectly, one knee on the ground, head down.

Everybody was stupefied. _What just happened?_ was the question which ran through all their minds.

The silence lasted, a drop of sweat making his way down his face. Did he do something wrong? The anxiety was killing him.

And then, claps, a lot them. As the initial shock passed, they all cheered for him.

"Did you see the end? What did he do?

-Dunno, that was cool though!"

"I didn't know you could use a semblance for this, it startled me!"

Russel froze. Did he just heard correctly?

"A semblance? Me?" With that, the hand of his teacher met his shoulder.

"Come with me once the lesson is over." She said with a faint smile.

* * *

 _ **Another rather short chapter, but fortunately it won't last.  
**_

 _ **As always:**_ _ **Please: review - favorite - follow!**_

 _ **Also, I think that I may break my promise about the slow and realistic evolution of the characters, but I simply won't have the time (hello real life) to fully develop the plot without rushing things a bit. I'm sorry for those who liked this point (hell, I did too), you may be surprised by the choices I'll make, but know that I care for this story and want it to continue.**_

 _ **On the other end, I'm never expliciting the amount of time that passed since episode "Field Trip" of the show, because I don't know how far from the end of season 2 the tournament will be. 3 weeks would be rather short, but even 6 could in fact turn the rush of events into something more slow-paced, so it's up to season 3 to answer that...**_

 _ **That's all.**_

 _ **Thank you for reading.**_


	7. Chapter 7 - Dangerously close

Chapter 7 - Dangerously close

"Sir. Mr. Winchester's last actions were unforgivable!"

Glynda Goodwitch was stern in her words. She and the headmaster were standing in his office, watching the sun rise. The orange disc was slowly illuminating more and more parts of the academy.

"It depends, which one?" Ozpin's answer sounded quite irresponsible, but coming from his mouth it suggested hidden meanings.

"I don't know what may balance out what he did to Mr. Arc. He attacked a fellow student in a particularly vicious way! Had I not been present at that time, who knows what else he could have done?!

-Who knows indeed...Isn't it why we're here in the first place? For the students? We have to know, to witness, since we're guiding them."

This time, his tone was serious. He knew he better had to be, or else he would have to face the witch's wrath. Glynda may be severe and strict, but that's because she cares deeply for her students' well-beeing, feeling highly responsible for every one of them: That's why Ozpin chose her as Beacon's headmistress after all.

"True..." The witch approved reluctantly. Each new year always came with its share of problematic elements, but all of them always graduated as good hunters. Excellent ones actually.

The last instance she had to deal with was this haughty girl with a minigun. The headmistress certainly didn't want to relive those difficult times, but she won in the end.

"Something bothering you, Mrs. Goodwitch?" Ozpin asked with a discreet crooked smile. He was both teasing and trying to reassure her. There was definitely something embarrassing her on this case.

"Mr. Winchester is one of the rare students I saw with _this_ little restraint." Glynda began. "When in battle, he becomes easily blinded by anger and jealousy, to the point of it being harmful even for his allies. I have some recordings showing him hurting his own teammates because of his carelessness!

-We both know how difficult it can be to... Deal with those children. They're often frustrated. The reasons may differ between each individual, but they're always denying it, be it by choice or by ignorance. I've never been the one to refuse them guidance. Mr. Winchester is no exception.

-But he clearly refuses all form of logical argumentation! His grades are some of the worst I've seen, and there's the matter of his dangerous newfound power! Right now, Mr. Winchester is only interpreting this as a proof that his current behaviour is right!"

Ozpin took a sip from his mug for the first time in their long-lasting conversation. At least, they reached a good entry point for the topic he wanted to discuss: "But recently, hasn't Mr. Winchester followed your class, and others, more assiduously? Didn't he and his teammates stopped bullying other students?"

Glynda looked utterly dismayed for a moment, and then resumed her thoughtful expression as she acknowledged the truth in the principal's words. "That... May be the case...

-You may want to put some more faith in him, as you did with Ms. Adel last Year..." Ozpin chuckled silently at the memory of a disheveled Glynda entering his office with a triumphant "Finally!".

To others, Coco Adel may have looked like a model student: strong, beautiful, radiating confidence... But the truth was that as a first year, she started as a terrible example. She always had tremendous strength to back up her words, and she also acted like a provocative black sheep, considering others to be hindrances to her ascension as the most famous and stylish hunter.

It took a long and difficult month to put her back on the right tracks. In the end, her eyes were opened by the defeat she experienced against Fox and Velvet. Even the latter couldn't stand her so-called leader anymore, so she and the blind martial artist formed as a pair at the request of the headmistress Goodwitch to demonstrate (as painfully as possible) the values of teamwork. The method was extreme, but proved to be efficient, as the girl drastically changed her attitude the days after, to the surprise but also relief of the rest of team CFVY.

The feeling of victory and accomplishment Glynda experienced that time was so strong it made her forget her manners, resulting in the aforementioned barging in.

The sorceress recognized immediately the amused light in Ozpin's eyes, and it took all of her willpower to not blush at the embarrassing memento.

"I identified Ms. Adel's troubles quite easily, and therefore their solutions. The problem with Mr. Winchester resides solely in his immense granite ego. One will never be able to shape it using words and wisdom. It has to be sculpted by an even tougher matter...

-Well, isn't it one of the reasons we have a combat class?

-My class is all about measure. All risks are taken in account, so that in the end no students will ever finish with permanent scars, or anything worse... We'll have to go beyond that to achieve results, and it will be extremely dangerous..."

"It has always been..." Those last two sentences were spoken with a grave tone, although thoughtful. The lengths to be taken were evident for both of them.

The two silent figures stood there several seconds, until both of them finally breathed in to resume the exchange, only to be interrupted by some knocking on the office's door.

"Come in, please." Said the headmaster. A spiky green mane and round opaque glasses soon emerged from the doorframe. "IfYou'llExcuseMe!" Professor Oobleck then stormed inside the office, fortunately leaving no flying paperwork in his wake.

"What brings you here, Bartholomew?" Asked the headmistress.

"ItSeemsThatMrsMaverick'sAssumptionWasRight! TheBoyWasAbleToCountMyFingers! CanYouBelieveIt? CountingMyFingers!" Each sentence had the overexcited teacher changing position and posture.

Ozpin raised an eyebrow, a tiny smile revealing his interest with the matter. "Tell us more, please...

-AsISaid, MrBronzewingWasAbleTo...

-The next part." The blonde witch cut him mid-sentence. Even if Oobleck was able to pack quite the number of informations into a considerably short amount of speech time, it could also greatly bother his audience. The less he digressed, the better.

"ISawHisAuraManifesting! AsISeeYou! ThisBoyCanUseItToEnhanceHisPerception! IAssumeThatItIsAForced,PowerfulStateOfTachypsychia!

"The ability to heighten one's perception of time..." The grey haired man concluded.

"Exactly! AndIThinkThatHeCanActuallyControlIt... WellNotAsOfNow, ButOnTheThreeAttempts, IGraduallySpedUp, AndHeWasAbleToFollow!

-What do you mean by 'not as of now'?" It was Glynda's turn to raise an eyebrow, a gesture full of suspicion in her case.

"WellHeCanControlItByUsingMoreAura, AndHe... KindOfRanOutPlayingOurLittleGame..." The professor realized the trouble he just threw himself in mid-sentence.

"He WHAT?!" The great sorceress grew red in mere seconds.

"He'sFine!He'sFine!I PersonnalyEscortedHimToTheMedicalWingAndMadeSureThatHeWouldRecoverMyself!IDidAllThatBeforeComingHereAndThat'sWhyI'mOnlyHereNow!PleaseHaveMercy!" Speaking in an even faster, panicked manner, Oobleck took several steps back at lightning speed. He was back to the wall, eyes closed, arms raised in a desperate defensive posture to protect himself from the angry headmistress.

Upon hearing the word "fine", Glynda slowly began to calm down. She knew that the man could sometimes be overzealous, but also that he was serious and caring.

"You should be more careful with your... Experimentations. Not like it's the first time I tell you..." She sighed.

"IAlwaysAm!" He saw her piercing him with her gaze. "IAlwaysTryToBe!

-Well, it seems that she was able to figure out their affinities quite well. Mr. Thrush yesterday, and now Mr. Bronzewing." The sorceress stated.

"Wait, theOtherToo?

-Yes, Mrs. Candela reported it to us. And he may even be the most experienced of his comrades when it comes to his Semblance effect: it seems that his use of spin related moves in my combat class was a matter of both preference and skill.

-SoHe'sAbleToFreelyRotate? LikeATornadoOfSomeSort?

-Presumably." Glynda then faced Ozpin. "I firmly believe that Mrs. Maverick's analyzing capabilities were wasted. There were far worthier teams!

-All of them deserve a chance, not only the ones currently labelled as the elite. Teaching the future generation of huntsmen has never been an exact science." The headmaster shifted his gaze toward the morning sky. "Some of them will go on adventures, and the time will come when they'll also look back at their deeds, then they'll want to teach what they've learned upon their travels.

-Let's hope that they'll be able to differentiate teaching from storytelling..." Glynda said, finishing the sentence with a heavy sigh.

* * *

Darkness managed to infiltrate Beacon. Both Ozpin and Ironwood knew of this possibility, but neither of them realized how dangerously strong and close it was. The 'red queen' they dreaded and unsuccessfully spied on for months was now preparing her next move, right in one of the Beacon's dorm rooms with her two henchmen.

"So... You're telling me that she isn't as strong as she seems, correct?" Cinder Fall's voice was low, deeply focused, as she was handling a needle with high dexterity. Sewing new refined patterns on her red dress. She was sitting confortably on a dorm bed.

"Yes." Answered Emerald, cross-legged on the floor, and looking at datas concerning a certain blonde brawler on her scroll. "Her Semblance, according to the intel we gathered, has great strengths...

-Several?"

Still laying in a corner of the room reading comics, Mercury spoke, trying not to sound too bored in front of his boss. "Well, there's the fact that she can endure quite the amount of punishment, and use it to counterattack. And then we also suppose that she's fireproof to some degree."

Cinder visibly frowned even more hearing the last statement. Her mouth formed a silent hiss that both the brawler and the thief caught.

"But she has weaknesses too." Added the green haired girl.

The silver-haired boy took up from there: "Up until now, she only withstood blunt attacks. We're almost certain that she can't deal with slicing or piercing ones. Also, it seems that self-harming doesn't count, as well as precise hits. Roman's..." He paused, trying and failing to remember Neo's name. "...Dwarf, was able to KO her using the aforementioned method.

-There's also the fact that when "awakened", she goes berserk and can be easily countered if you have a way to severely damage her." Emerald finished.

"Aside from the little..." Cinder paused again, swallowing the anger caused by the fact that the Xiao Long girl could likely resist her powers. "... Inconvenience. Is there a way to snatch the pawn?

-That's unlikely." The thief sighed. "She seems to be the independent adventurer type. There's the possibility to take her little sister as an hostage, but even so there's no way to be sure she'll cooperate obediently.

-You'll have more important things to take care of..." The raven haired sorceress made eye contact with the thief, causing the latter to blush. "Adam will certainly decline if there is no Faunus cause involved, and Roman will never let us borrow his favorite lackey. Is there someone we could use as a countermeasure?

-I have an idea..." The dark skinned girl typed on her scroll for several seconds, searching a particular file. "Here it is: Russel Thrush. Team CRDL. Some of this school's worst grades, except in combat class where he seems to be average.

-Tsss...! That won't even slow her!" Mercury said, mockingly.

"... Recently showed signs of a Semblance involving rotation and wind. I can attest this point, and that it was quite powerful. Enough to be an asset for us."

Cinder hummed, a seductive but also predatory sound. Emerald knew that she had caught her boss' attention, and resumed her explanation. "I don't know why, but, well... In fact yes, I know why, but... The fact is, I managed to steal his heart without even trying."

"That doesn't count as stealing, that's just a crush." The brawler sat up, having lost interest in his book.

"Let her continue, Mercury.

-I can lure him to our side. First, I think I should find a way to train him. He uses dual weapons like me so I think I may be able to teach him a few things. Once he'll see the results, he'll crave for more, for himself as much as for the hope to impress me. Soon enough, he'll come to us willingly.

-Are you sure you'll be able to manage this in addition of the rest?

-I would not propose it otherwise.

Very well." Cinder's lips formed a pleased smile. "Add him to the list."

* * *

 ** _Moar Cinder. Some seductiveness for a change!  
_**

 ** _Seriously though, I don't even know what her list is for... Improvisation ahead!_**

 ** _Also, you all know that each team (and in the case of RWBY, each members) has sort of a musical theme. I'm searching a song that I may listen to as CRDL's theme. So far, it is "that golden rule" by Biffy Clyro. What do you guys think? Would you happen to have suggestions?_**


	8. Chapter 8 - Encounters

Chapter 8 - Encounters

"He's hiding something" Sky whispered, laying down on his bed facing his comrade.

 _Definitely._ The blue haired boy understood from Dove's change of posture, his elbows now propped on a desk and his hands supporting his head while covering his mouth with laced fingers.

If there was somthing unic with their team, particularly with Sky, it was their ability to understand the silent boy's body language as clealry as if he were speaking.

 _For Cardin, I understand. He's holing up in the armory as soon as classes end. This new weapon is really taking him to heart. But Russel?_

"Well, there's his dance lessons..."

 _That alone isn't enough. Maybe he discovered a personal liking in dancing?_

"...or the teacher is a really hot girl!"

They both bursted into laughter. _Exactly!_ Dove signed half jokingly, half seriously.

"Well, whatever it is..." Sky began saying, still recovering from their outburst. He was having a really difficult time aligning those few words.

 _Whatever she is!_ His teammate's precision renewed the hilarity for several minutes, before they settled down again, taking the most serious expressions they could muster. Then Dove concluded: _We'll find out._

"Deal!"

The door of their room suddenly opened violently, making their hearts skip a beat.

"Hey guys!" Russel was already halfway to his desk before heading out the door again. "Bye guys!"

Each day for a little while now, he would go straight to his desk to gather his battle gear, and would then leave immediately after.

With the door closing, the two remaining occupants exchanged a quick glance, which shifted from a questioning look to an affirmative nod. If they wanted to find out what was going on with their friend, they would right now.

The duo silently made their way to the door, quietly opening it and observed the corridor. The green haired boy was already to the far end, in one of the paired access stairwells.

 _Let's take the other._ Dove gestured, both boys following the advice and trying to hurry as stealthily as possible to the ground floor. Luckily, they managed to catch up with their target, who wasn't rushing as much as they thought he would.

"With this direction, it's either the practice courses, or the armory." Sky knew this part of the school best, thanks to his special lessons. "I know how not to be seen along the way. Follow me!"

 _I'm right behind you._ Dove followed his partner, knowing that the latter's predisposition to hide, even if he never admitted it, would provide them with a nice set of sight covers.

The silent boy stopped. _He's entering the training ground._

"That's easier then. Every student has to schedule when making use of the courses. Names and time."

They stayed hidden for a minute to be sure their target passed the main hall, which they soon entered. The answer they sought for was now just meters away from them on the digital application board. The two grinning teammates gulped, and then resumed their strides toward what contained their evidence.

 _So, for today's schedule... P... Q... R..._ Dove's eyes scanned the screen, and then went back to Sky's. _No Russel._

"Try at T."

 _Nothing either._ _But…_ The silent boy continued to navigate between the schedules. _Wait, there's a room registered under Haven. Isn't that…?_

"...The school of the Emerald girl!"

 _Room 7._ Dove took the lead until they faced the door with said digit. Taking a deep breath, they entered quietly and made their way unseen to the highest tribune. Both started observing the students of Haven in training, hoping to spot their green haired teammate.

There were around 7 pairs dueling, so it did not take long to locate Russel sitting on a resting bench.

 _So he is just observing her then._ Dove sighed with disappointment.

"I can't see her anywhere though..." Sky triple-checked his assumption.

 _Well let's go!_ The slit-eyed boy shrugged. _He's wasting his time and ours hoping for a fairytale._

"She's here!" Sky's exclamation stopped Dove in his track. "She's... walking to him." Now they were definitely not leaving without further details. "Now she's even talking to him!" The blue haired boy's surprised voice was nearly audible over the dueling students.

 _Well played, Cupidon._ The two teammates silently high-fived.

The two assumed lovebirds stood and took their fighting stances. Russel's mates instantly figured out that something was strange: it wasn't his ordinary one. The differences were subtle, but noticeable for the members of his team, especially the always observant Dove.

 _She's training him._ he gestured to Sky.

The fight started, and soon enough the weapons went clashing at high speeds. The observers were stunned by the display of skill they weren't expecting from their teammate.

 _He sure has progressed!_ Dove was honestly impressed since he was Russel's main partner in battle, and thus knew his level best.

"Hot teacher, I told you."

 _The power of love._

They felt the earlier hilarity surface again, but managed to calm down before blowing their cover. That's when Russel started to glow slightly.

"Hey! What's he doing? Isn't that..." Sky's eyes were narrowing.

 _...Aura._ Dove was certain. He saw the same faint white coating on himself, his leader Cardin, or any other person when they were about to use... _A Semblance!_

The moment this last word was thougt, the green haired hunter began to spin horizontally at a high speed, his image blurring. He then launched himself toward Emerald, following a curved trajectory to not impact the girl directly, but rather graze the her. As soon as he was in contact, less than half a second actually, a flurry of slices and sparks covered the thief's weapons in her back facing defensive stance. She was in fact pivoting at high speed and delivered a low kick at what one could only assume to be Russel's legs. This broke the blurring, and the hunter emerged from the tornado to roll on the floor. He managed to recover, but a bronze colored blade was already on his throat.

 _She's... Strong! I don't know a lot of people who could have defended against that, let alone counterattack…_

"So... Russel... Has a Semblance too?" Sky took the blow quite hard.

He was happy that his team seemed to evolve, but now he was really afraid to be left behind. He had an average Aura amount compared to most of the first years. However that didn't stop another student in a situation similar to him, Lie Ren, from demonstrating a great mastery over it. Mastery that the insecure hunter had yet to achieve.

 _Seems so..._ Dove could read his partner's feelings, so he deemed necessary to hide his own progress. Now wasn't the time.

"Why didn't he tell us?"

 _I don't know, maybe he wanted this to be like... A surprise?_

"Yeah..." Sky's expression softened. "That sounds like him."

 _Come on._ The blue haired boy felt his teammate's hand on his shoulder. _We have to work too. We can't fall behind._

"You're right." Then, they both exited the training grounds as stealthily as they entered.

"Where the fuck are they?"

Cardin was visibly angry, stomping around the academy in search of his teammates. He was big, looked strong, but was by no means a loner. Having the full team with him pumped him up in a good way during combat, though also in a wrong way when it comes to rude jokes and bullying.

He had been walking for half an hour now, which left around 15 minutes until dinner time. He decided to settle into the cantina, at their usual table. _Two important organs in every man. Russ' thinks with the first, but Dove and Sky the second. I'm sure they'll answer the stomach call..._ He was drawing near the entrance when a pair of brown rabbit ears emerged from the gates. He almost naturally didn't slow down and even accelerated a bit to pull off his favorite casual prank. He braced a little for the impact and...

...Was thrown to the ground.

"Oh, 'xcuse me! You alright?" That wasn't Velvet's voice at all. It was a man's. "Hey, come on! Don't make me look like the bad guy here!" Cardin opened his eyes to look at the source of those words.

He was little.

So little.

Like, around the first year's girls with heels, which was little for him, but still.

How could he have withstood all of his body mass, with the armor nonetheless!

"Are you gonna take it or what?" The unknown man was extending his hand to help Cardin back to his feet.

"Kona? Don't tell me you butted into someone again!" There was a timid voice trying to sound threatening. That one the leader recognized.

"That wasn't my fault, Velvet! I swear!

-How could it not b... Oh!" Velvet froze when she approached enough to figure out that it was her tormentor.

Now that he looked past the height, he remarked the two rabbit ears on top of the spiky short brown hair of the stranger. A Faunus!

"Do you know him?" The latter asked.

"No...

-Veeeeeel. I know you're lying. Careful with your ears." The unknown Faunus told her, smiling, and pointing out his own pair. There must have been some tic that he was able to see.

If there was something obvious about the newcomer, it was his rank. He was a hunter for sure. He was wearing high quality combat gear, which consisted of a white zipped sleeveless shirt, an orange scarf, deep blue armored elbow-length gloves and knee-high boots, black martial arts capri pants with several samurai-like deep blue armor pieces on the sides, and finally two orange buckles on his leather belt.

Cardin gulped, and then caught the hand, helping him back up until he stood, towering both of the rabbit Faunus.

"Wow, you're rather tall! Not far from Yatsu!" The two brown eyes of the hunter then halfway closed. "Cardin, is that it?

-Uuh, yes?" Now that was something unexpected. How could he know his name?

"Aren't you that fella..." The hands of the stranger were closing into fists, each phalanx producing a heavy menacing crack. "...who happens to butt into my little cousin for fun?" His expression remained neutral, but it was much more like repressed anger. "What's wrong? Mistook me for her?

-No! Kona! Stop! I don't know what Coco told you but...!" Velvet's desperate sentence was cut off by an unearthly phenomenon. The whole place was slowly being filled by an outrageously aggressive Aura, sapping out heat and solidifying air. The unknown Faunus' reaction was far beyond disproportionate.

Cardin knew instantly he was in trouble. He suffered various minor backlashes from his racist actions, but it had always been from humans. And now here he was, alone, cornered by a full-fledged hunter, and a relative of his favorite target nonetheless.

His heart-rate started to accelerate as his hand slowly moved to an advantageous spot to draw his mace. It felt like time had literally froze in this instant. Even as the tallest person present, he felt like an ant compared to Kona. His Aura was reacting like never before, enhancing all his nerves as if his very life was on the line. He was feeling more alive than one could ever hope to be. His senses were picturing the world around him a hundredfold more precisely.

And any movement, down his ragged breathing, felt like it would be the last. That's how strong the influence was, transforming a casual encounter into something extreme.

A small sweat drop was running along his cheek, reaching his jaw ever so slowly.

And then it fell, its chute lasting an eternity in the knight's mind, who was waiting for it to hit the ground like it were the opening bellring of his final duel.

...

...

...

Ploc.

"Uryaaaaaaah!" The mace was drawn in milliseconds, and traced a death ark directed to the threat. It crashed on the ground hard enough to create a 4 meters radius crater, and raised a huge pan of grey smoke.

He couldn't see, couldn't be sure. Did he get him? Was he gone? He took his fighting stance and stopped moving, stopped _breathing_ , stopped blinking, and focused. His brain, and all his senses were working at full speed to answer this simple question:

"Where is he...?"

Is hearing caught small hiccups, crying noises. The fog slowly dissipated, revealing their origin. The stranger was carrying Velvet in his arms, bridal style. Then he let her down, making sure that she could stand.

 _That means... That in a split second... He was able to evade the attack, grab rabbit girl, and move her out of the explosion reach._ The realization struck Cardin like a bullet, as all of his adrenaline dissipated, leaving him exhausted. All that he did was in fact in vain. This was like the huntress they followed on the field trip: A whole other level, and he was still so far from it!

He fell, one knee to the ground, breathing heavily, and completly oblivious to the nearby pair of rabbit Faunus.

"I'm really sorry... I... I lost the control of my Semblance!" The stranger was trying his best to apologize.

"You…" Velvet on the other end, was trying her best to swallow her sobs.

"...I?

-You IDIOT!" She simultaneously punched him hard in the side, right on the ribs.

"Talk about a… Uuuurgh… Reminder!" Her grand cousin stumbled for several seconds. "Now if you'll excuse me..." He took a deep breath, and then walked toward CRDL's leader.

The latter closed his eyes waiting for a finishing blow to come.

After several agonizingly slow seconds, the knight risked a peek, only to see the Faunus' extended hand, the same way as before.

"My name is Kona Scarlatina, huntsman of Vale." Seeing the tall boy frozen, and most likely not understanding his new motive, he continued: "Yours?"

"C..." Throat dry, he took some time to respond with a cracking voice. "...Cardin. Cardin Winchester…"

"Then stand up, Cardin." Kona caught the knight's hand. "Everybody needs help once in a while, Humans and Faunus alike." The orange-haired boy was now back on his feet, each word reaching his still overly sensitive eardrums. "And we need all the help we can gather. When facing death, and Grimm, we're the same. That's all that matters." The Faunus' voice dropped an octave all along the last sentence. This little huntsman lost people dear to him, and not only once. That much the student understood right away. At this particular moment, using the term 'death' made the 'survivor' acknowledge the wise teaching.

"I hope that in a near future, you'll pour as much resolve into saving both species, as what you did with your mace strike today." The little rabbit warrior then shook hands with the still mute and confused leader. "See ya."

Then he started walking away. "You comin' Vel'?" The tiny duo soon disappeared around the cantina's corner.

That's the moment the rest of CRDL chose to arrive, Russel first: "Hey Car... Holy shit!

* * *

 ** _Please: Review (no ideas for CRDL's theme? really?) - Follow - Favorite_**

 ** _This chapter is special. Kona was supposed to appear later, but as you'll soon see, there was a purpose in bringing him in earlier.  
_**

 ** _We're still in the preparation arc, and it may stay that way until the release of the third season. There are still some details I need for the plot. (So Winter is the big sis?) V2: I still haven't watched it yet! Waiting for the full release!  
_**

 ** _Major issue corrected in V2: Dove is NEVER seen speaking! No voice actors on his wikia entry either! I always assumed that he was able to speak 'till now, but that would be a GREAT incoherence if he was indeed mute!_**


	9. Chapter 9 - Omen

Chapter 9 - Omen

"Waaaow! Nice one! I wonder who did that!" An overly happy Nora was staring at the crater in front of the cantina entrance.

"Excuse me, do you know what happened here?" Pyrrha swiftly hurried inside, asking one the cook who was still preparing the upcoming diner's dishes.

"Two guys fought. It did not last long however... Well, rather hopefully seeing how it went and who was involved..."

"What do you mean?" The redhead student was worried, but for other reasons: She could have suffered severe damages blocking a strike powerful enough to shatter earth the way it had been in front of the batiment. Who could have done that?

"Uuuh, I don't know the one who broke the floor well. His teammates are always the one filling the food trays. He's a first year, that much I'm sure." He then looked around the huge banquet room, and stoped on particular table. "That's him, with the armor and orange hair."

"Cardin did...?"

"Pardon me..." The cook interrupted her. "Cardin, is that it? Well he was lucky. Picking a fight with the third, is he suicidal or what?"

"The third, like of the crisis squad? Ren was interested too, and had silently approached and caught up with the conversation.

"Yes. A good kid, really. A little rabbit faunus." Both teenagers figured out then what the origin of the argument must have been. "This was two years ago, but I still remember him well: Always picked on, but always retaliating. His bravery was an exemple for us and the students..." The man lifted his cooking cap, revealing goat horns.

"I'm sure it was. Well, sorry for taking your time."

"My pleasure, Mrs. Nikos." The cook then resumed his activities.

Ren clearly saw that it was weighting on her mind. "Something wrong?"

"The presence of such an important individual is everything but encouraging. Whatever happens, I hope Jaune will be ready..." She mentally started planning more training sessions for them.

"Don't worry too much, Pyrrha. You know what it can do. Remember Blake?"

"Eyh guys! Can you help me with Nora? She won't leave the..." Jaune just entered the hall, but stopped in his track, sensing the heavy atmosphere. "Is... Is something wrong?"

"No!" Pyrrha answered a bit too stiffly, but corrected herself quickly. "Nothing serious." Now she really hoped that Jaune would be as oblivious as with their relation.

"Oh... Okay! Just... Don't make those faces again. I thought that someone died!"

* * *

In fact, someone died back then. Figuratively, but still, the blow was hard.

It took at least fifteen minutes for Cardin to come back to his senses. The effects of the stranger's Semblance were dissipating, and soon enough he was in possession of all his faculties. It was like awakening from a nightmare.

"The guy..."

"He spoke!" Russel remarked, catching the attention of the 2 other members.

"The guy... He was Velv... The rabbit girl's cousin."

"Shit! Caught red handed?" The green haired boy asked, apprehensively.

"No, but hell... That cannot be... That cannot be...!" His fist was clinching, cracking several times. "He won, without even touching me...!"

"H...How?" Sky gulped mid sentence. But the two other listeners were as astounished as him by the statement. Cardin was usually one to put the blame one the equipement, the luck... And after that he would work on decades of means to avenge himself.

"The power... The speed... Everything." So, him admitting that he had been cleanly beaten was a first. "Hahaha..."

"What?" He asked just in case, but Dove heard right. His leader laughed.

"Nothing. I was just thinking... If I could do that..."

"Uuuh, so what will you do now?" Not even planning a revanche. That wasn't the character at all. With this question, Sky hoped to bring their old leader back... Without success.

"Maybe I should thank him."

"But... He's a faunus!" Russel tried his luck with the third critical point.

"Yes. Absolutely." Cardin turned to face the window, both elbows on the table. "But he sure understood the laws of nature better than I did." As he finished his sentence, he bathed in the sunset's light, savoring the soothing warmth.

"She's here." Dove remarked, gravely.

"Don't get me wrong, guys. Him..." He glared at the distant shape of Velvet. "Her... I'm not done with them yet. No oath, no promise to hold me back: One day I'll make them soak their pants."

"The freaks deserve it." Said Russel, glad to see Cardin as his old self. The latter however, nearly jumped to him, grabbed him by the collar, and looked at him straight in the eyes.

"Let me tell you something, Russ'. There aren't freaks. If one of those faunus best you, you fall behind. If he wants to kill you, you end up dead." All colors were draining from the scarred boy's face. "So again, Russ': No freaks. Just power. The strong survive. If you want to survive, you know what to do now." The unfortunate victim of the knight's anger had been slowly lifted from its seat until its feets were resting a good 30 centimeters above the ground.

Cardin then softly put Russel down like nothing happened. "I'm the one who told you..." He stared at the two other team members. "...You all, all that shit before. It runs in the Winchesters since generations. I'm at fault." He then sat, arms crossed. "I'll end this."

The three wide-eyed partners, even Dove, could not believe what they heard. Seeing this, Cardin felt obligated to clarify his point. "Small talk, superstitions... Nothing beats the facts. And the fact is, today, I saw someone. He was able to make people writhe in fear before him if he judged it fit. The further I think about it, the more I want this kind of power."

He ran his tongue along his lips which were taking a carnivorous aspect, thinking about his numerous targets, mainly Coco Adel. It felt wonderful, just imagining the sight of her distorted crying face through the tainted glasses once subjected to this. "As you can guess. This someone was a faunus. My father can say what he wants, with this kind of power, he'll just shut up and bow before me, or any... freak."

His throat still dry, Russel had to gather all his remaining gut to formulate the rest of team's interrogation: "W... What about us?"

"You?" Cardin honestly asked, not expecting that from his teammates. He saw their anxious expressions, and understood rather quickly that he had just been fantasizing to the point of beeing borderline creepy, and dangerous. "Hey! I don't want to become emperor or something! I'm here to become a hunter... Okay, a high-graded hunter, but that's all! If people messes with you, you want to put them in their places, right?"

He got three equally spaced "Right.". They were all loafers and troublemakers to varying degrees and thus the one who often ended messing with other first, but they could agree on this point.

"Same here. It's just that I have a lot of people on my list. Help me with them, I help with yours. That's how we always worked, together. Remember with Jauney?"

"Good times." Said Dove.

"So, you with me? We still have a tournament ahead of us!"

"'Kay." Timidely added Sky, extending hand for them all to clap. They all looked at each other, before smiling and reciprocating the gesture, which turned in a four way handshake. And with that they finally attacked the food without mercy.

Between two bites, The slit-eyed student interrupted his leader. "Cardin?"

"Hmmrf?" The latter aknowledged the call, albeit with a mouthful.

"What about training? You're always holed up in the armory all your free time. I thought about it, and me and Sky came out with some formation ideas."

"About that... I wanted to tell you all: It's finished."

* * *

"Yang?"

"Why are you thinking about me first!"

"Well, lets' just say I know dad's style, and how you emulate it."

"But I was with you all along! I couldn't do it!" Yang was really hurt. Did her little sis' thought of her as a gorilla or what?

"Ruby, you were even speaking with her..." Blake frowned and pinched the bridge of her nose at the girl's carelessness.

"How could you even miss that, you dunce!" Weiss however, reacted more in her own... Fashion.

"It's just... You know... A reflex... When I think crash, I think Yang..."

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

"I can understand." The checkmate pair agreed on this one.

"Not you two too! Blake! I trusted you! You! The purrfect teamma..."

"Someone stop her! My bad pun sense is tingling so much I swear that if it could materialize I would stuff her throat with it!

"Wow." The three other girl froze, agape. "Hey, not bad Weiss, that's definitely too sophisticated, but you're getting the yang of..."

"Someooone!"

"We know who did the crater." Ren's simple sentence caught the interest of the all-girls team before anything could get out of hand.

"And who exactly is the hooligan?" Asked the heiress.

"Cardin..." Pyrrha revealed the name, and as the first time she did, she could see Jaune visibly shrinking. "Either way..." She was trying to reassure herself. "...He could never have escaped the truth forever."

"Cardin? Like in CRDL? Like the racist?"

"Yes Yang, that Cardin." The redhead huntress responded.

"Dust, I didn't know he could do that. I dont know what he ate at lunch, but I sure want some!"

"No way I'm letting you." Blake could deal with the excited blond huntress, but the super-excited one? Impossible."

"Alright, alright! But I'm definitely taking him on at the next combat class!"

"You should be careful, sis'..."

"What? What can the punk do anyway?"

"I... I don't know for sure, but he spent a lot of time at the armory, building something. And I mean A LOT."

"As much as I know, you're the crafting genious here. No need to fuss about it."

"Buuut...!" Little Ruby started to pout.

"Aaaand, why did he do that?" Blake was surprised that nobody seemed to care about the origin o the conflict.

"We heard that he picked a fight with a faunus."

"Why did I even ask..." The cat girl sighed heavily.

"And not just any faunus, it seems he was a crisis squad member."

"Pffffrt! Wait, what!?" The two first year teams were startled by Coco's sudden reaction at the conversation. She and her team were sitting on a table just beside, and the leader was now occupied with cleaning all the evening coffee she just spitted out from suprise.

"Excuse me!" Coco apologized and lowered her voice as to not further embarass the first year students. "Vel'! Why didn't you tell me Kona was here!"

"You... You're always telling him things I don't want you to!"

"For your own good!"

"It nearly had someone killed!"

"One of the 8 strongest hunters of Vale, and not even able to protect his cute little cousin..."

"I asked him not to...! I... I can handle myself just fine...!"

"As if!" The leader lowered her tainted glasses, giving a knowing look to further accentuate the sarcasm. Velvet was frowning very seriously, so she knew she had gone to far. "Fine. Anyway, why was he here?"

"I don't know. He didn't told me. But I guess he wanted to spend some time with Rock and Carmen."

"Who's Carmen?"

"The dance teacher!"

"Wait. We have a dance teacher? At Beacon?"

"I'll have you know that dance is a difficult exercise that demands a lot of dedication, and trust with your partner!" Weiss snapped, revealing the fact that the 8 youngsters had been listening to the conversation. "Hmhmm! Oh, don't mind us! We're just gonna... Finish our meal! Right?" She had a really hard time making up her mistake.

"We could really work on your stealth abilit..." Blake never finished her comment, as she and the heiress both froze at the same time, which had the effect of worrying the two sisters.

"Uuuh... What's up, guys?" Asked the tensed tiny leader.

They took out their scrolls as to answer the question, scanned what must have been an alert, quickly glanced at each other, and broke out the silence: "The white fang moved."

"What!? What happened?" Now Ruby was really concerned.

"That... That's so bold! They attacked the SDC research compound!"

"Isn't that supposed to be like, guarded as fuck?" Intervened Yang.

"Blake, this is really starting to worry me!"

"This wasn't a provocation..." The ex-whitefang member frowned.

"...Please continue?"

"As you said, it's so bold. There's a greater scheme behind. This was thoroughly prepared. Whatever they stole, they needed. Don't you have, like, a more precise report? I just have access to the public information channel after all."

"Oh right. Just a second... It was a new laser cutting machine. The kind we use to dig wells to the deepest dust sources."

"How powerful is it? Can it be used as a weapon?"

"Given how difficult it is to be handled, I would say no. Not reliably. The only good point I can think of is its effective range, several kilometers."

"You've been able to channel it this precisely?" The weapon freak leader was barely concealing her interest."

"Enough to snipe a priority target..."

"Worry not, Blake. They can't move nor even power such a device near one of the great cities. We'll locate them thanks to our surveillance network. They'll never be able to hide in time."

"That's too much hassle for one move only. If they want something, or someone, eliminated, they have... Agents..." Blake had to focus for a tear not to escape her eyes as she thougt of her old mentor.

"You mean that they're planning to use it multiple times, isn't it?"

"Roman had been piling on dust, robbing every store and warehouses he could. Maybe they want a regular income?" Ruby too was speculating on the fang's intents.

"That... Could make sense... But back to the first question: why all this dust?"

"Wow! Slow down Blake. We know were this is going." Yang was dead set on not letting her fall into depression again. "Not-so-smooth criminal lost an immense share of his supplies back then. There'll be months before they could even reach full capacity again! Plus, there's a full military force parked here and like thousands of atlassian knights ready to kick badguys' asses!"

"Right..." The ex-whitefang member knew what her teammate meant. She had the lesson learned, but still...

This was bad omen.

* * *

 _ **Review - Follow - Favorite!  
**_

 _ **So here we are, plot is kicking in. I'll drop various clues along the way, feel free to interpret them, that's what they're made for.**_

 _ **Cardin is starting to change considerably. What are your thoughts? Especially about the way he sees faunus now?**_


	10. Chapter 10 - Strength

**Wew! It's been months! Anyway, I did a full rewrite of this story, so you may want to read it all over again since there are a lot of subtle differences.**

* * *

Chapter 10 - Strength...

In Glynda Goodwitch's combat classes, comments were gushing from every corner.

"You know... I almost feel bad for Jauney." stated Russel. In a way, he had been the first target of 'the new Cardin'.

"Almost..." Sky wasn't in better shape.

Dove remained silent, because he was already preparing to analyze every seconds of the upcoming fight, mainly to train his Semblance.

On the other side of the room, Ruby was fidgeting, barely concealing her excitement. She was about to see a new weapon! She was a bit worried though, since one of her close friend was going to face its wielder.

"Let's see what he got!" Yang was still anticipating her turn in the arena.

Blake and Weiss were sitting in silence, as this duel wasn't the first thing in their mind at the moment.

Just next to them were the remaining members of team JNPR, minus Jaune who was currently preparing himself for the fight.

Pyrrha was extremely anxious. She was rembering their last exchange before he went to the lockers:

" _Jaune, you can do this._ "

 _-Yeah, I know... It's just... You've trained me well those past weeks but I... I'm affraid not to be worth your time..."_

 _-Jaune_." She looked at him straight in the eyes. " _Wathever happens, you'll be learning. You'll be growing. None of this was in vain._ "

He averted his gaze a moment, took and deep breath, and then resumed eye contact while straightening his posture. " _You're right, as always! Thanks Pyrrha!_ "

She was thrown out of her reverie by Nora's loud cheering: "JAAAAAUNE! THE LEEEGS! DON'T FORGET THE LEGS!" Ren then patted her head, which had the effect of calming the valkyrie just enough to spare the ears of the other watchers.

Jaune indeed appeared in the arena, Crocea Mors drawn. He swinged a few times to warm up.

"Mr. Arc, please take your place. Mr. Winchester will be ready shortly." The headmistress directed.

"So, this blond boy is Pyrrha Nikos' leader, isn't it?" Cinder was making herself comfy in the tribune, desperatly wanting somthing unusual to happen in those children-level matches.

"And our ticket with her." Added Mercury, who was in more or less the same state as his mistress.

"What about his opponent?

-He is my pawn's team leader. His name is Cardin Winchester. He uses a simple mace." Emerald had the intel ready.

"Oh yes, I remember him. So dumb he even hit one of his colleagues!" The silver haired brawler was so bored he couldn't even laugh to back up his mockery.

All of a sudden, all the chit-chat ended. A low scratching noise was slowly growing from the obscured arena access.

"What is that?" Yang asked her sister in a whisper.

"Don't know."

Just judging from the sound, everybody knew that its source would be heavy. It slowly grew to become a rumbling, and was soon accompanied by footsteps.

"He's here..." Sky had his eyes wide open, ready to catch the shape of the monstruous thing Cardin was carrying.

Monstruous was the right word. Big. Heavy. Solid. If there's one thing the orange haired knight involuntarily did great, it was making clear that whatever he was about to reveal, you should not laugh at.

"Sorry. Professor." said the shadow emerging from the corridor, dissimulating the sarcasm in his voice well for once.

"You are not late, Mr. Winchester. But I suggest you hurry now."

"Just getting my gear ready." Cardin was now totally visible, and carrying a huge metal case.

Finally, the rumbling ceased as he stopped. Then he slowly layed the box down on the floor, before finally opening it.

From Jaune's point of view, this wasn't pleasant at all. His discomfort kept rising accordingly with the scraping of the metal container.

As forgiving as Pyrrha was, she was really hating Cardin's behaviour now. She always knew that he had not an ounce of sportmanship, but right now he was just playing dirty.

All this ceremonial had only one purpose: Weakening her blond leader's confidence. And the worst part was, he was doing great. The redhead huntress could swear she was hearing her protégé's panicked heartbeats. Cardin intended to win the fight before it even started.

"Looks like that there's a name on the box…" Mercury tried to read: "P... I... O..."

"Pious Rogus." Emerald felt great satisfaction interrupting the brawler for once, her eyesight far more acute than the his.

"I like the idea." Cinder smirked. 'Righteous pyre', such a name was poetry for her. "Maybe I'll follow this more closely..."

Cardin was behaving religiously with his creation, and he started doing so as soon as he completed and named it. The new weapon was now bared for everyone to see, wrapped in a red velour padding: The head of the mace had 6 large and aggressive arcs, all originating from his previous weapon's fire cristal. Then descending toward the relatively short handle were several spiked segments, decreasing in size. The whole anthracite appearence made it look even more heavy. And unforgiving.

"Yang, I'm not joking. Be careful when facing him. I always recognize an amorously crafted weapon when I see one.

-Pfft! What are you talking about? It's just a huge decorated stick! I'm sure he can't even lift it properly..." At those words, the orange haired knight drew said stick one handed. He was a bit unsteady, but still. "Okay, nevermind. He can."

He then took his place at his side of the arena. "I'm ready. Professor."

"Good". Glynda lowered the lights so that only the center of the room and the two fighters were illuminated. Her voice then switched to the speakers. "Until one of the contestant gets his Aura level in the red, falls unconscious, or forfeits... Begin!"

 _No big deal Jaune! The appearence changed... Well the weight too... But it's still his mace! I can do it!_ In his battle stance, JNPR's leader was observing his opponent, who was just holding the dangerous tool head down. _That's not the way he usually holds it... Is it actually that heavy? The handle is quite small too..._ Jaune felt his confidence grow again, and stopped shivering. His face took a more neutral and focused expression. He was ready.

Unknowingly for the blond knight, his opponent had completely planned this encounter. When the latter saw the hope shine in the blue eyes, he knew the moment was right...

All of Pious Rogus' segments separated at once, making the head fall on the ground with all its crushing weight, producing a gruesome sound.

The previously confidant orbs were now starring at the imminent threat, a screaming thought growing all the while:

 _The shield is useless!_ This particular equipement's pair of users concluded. "You felon...!" Was all Pyrrha could muster, because of her politeness.

"I'm coming..." Cardin's low growl wasn't even over when he started marching forward, taking the still shocked Jaune by surprise.

 _Seizing the initiative..._ The redhead knew exactly what was going on. First, strike the opponent's spirit, then switch with the real assault before he recuperates. Easy for her to say, and she knew it: The orange haired knight was showing an unexpected talent in psychological warfare, and it was her partner who was subjected to it right now. _Jaune!_

JNPR's leader raised his shield, an automatic gesture which lifted the weight off his shoulder a bit. This wouldn't help in the upcoming clash, but this was part of his new self, the one who will someday face Remant's greatest evil to become a Hero. It granted him a sufficient amount of fighting spirit to dodge the first blow.

It all happened in a split second. Cardin was still nearly 3 meters away, but the head of the mace-flail was embedded right into Jaune's previous position. The knight recovered from the emergency roll only to find his opponent already back in fighting stance, ready to strike again.

"Not so prone to block now? Come on Jauney! I'm not messing with you, as far as I know..."

 _Provocation..._ Jaune easily saw throught Cardin's taunting, but still, the latter was definitely going to strike hard and for real. _His maximum range his approximately 3 meters... Remember your options... No shield..._ This point was severly narrowing the possibilities, down to one: _The lunging strike!_

"That's it!" Pyrrha couldn't help but whisper as she saw her partner subtely preparing to execute one of the moves she taught him. A good choice, but... Having fought hundreds of sparring and tournament matches, she could see through the mask of cockiness Cardin was wearing. Jaune however, couldn't.

 _Juste 20 more centimeters..._ The blond boy was carefully jauging the distance.

 _15..._ One mistake, and it's the infirmary.

 _10..._ Or worst.

 _5..._

All of a sudden, he dashed toward Cardin, his Aura-empowered leg giving him supernatural speed, and his extended sword ready to connect before the monstruous mace could even... _What is he doing...!?_ The blond knight realized his mistake too late: the heavy weapon was still sitting on the ground. It could mean only one thing:

He expected it.

Pyrrha braced herself as much as her leader for the upcoming counterattack. The tip of Crocea Mors missed its target as Cardin's left switch kick landed in Jaune's midsection, stopping him right on place with emptied lungs.

With this golden opportunity, Pious Rogus striked. A deep blow which sent the blond swordman flying on the other side of the arena, more than 12 meters away. After several roll, he finally stopped face down, not moving. There was not a sound. No cheering, not even a sarctastic commentary. The audience had its breath cut off too, after witnessing the terrible violence of the previous attack.

"Ooooow! Come on Jauney! Down already?" For a first time at using his new weapon, Cardin was more than satisfied. It was even too easy for his liking. He swung his flail-mace over his shoulder, and started walking toward the fallen knight. "We're not done yet!" If there was some life left in the still lying body, he wanted to savour it. After seeing Jaune withstand several strikes from an Ursa, he learned that the latter, if clumsy, was still extremely resistant.

On the other end, Cardin was one to easily forget important parameters, be it his partners' positionning, or the fact that the headmistress did not intervene to stop the current fight...

"...I agree." A subtle whisper. There were only 3 meters left when the blond boy's legs started to shine. In less than a second, he raised up and charged toward his unsuspecting opponent, tackling and throwing him on the ground.

Jaune heavily misjudged the Aura amount to pull of the move, and as result, he went over Cardin and landed a few meters on the opposit side, but on is feet. It took some time for the orange haired knight to get back on his. He certainly didn't see that one coming. He would never admit it, but that was nicely done.

And the blond boy's momentum shift didn't end there: at everyone's suprise, his shield fell loudly on the ground. There he was now, handling his sword two-handedly, pointed toward the bully.

"That's it? You can't defend, so you throw this useless shit away?" Again with the taunting.

"Yes..." It was not the Jaune everybody knew. "Useless it is, as I'm gonna finish this all..." Right now, Pyrrha could see a glimpse of the man she always saw in her leader speaking. "...In one strike!

-In one strike? Really?" Internally, Cardin was struggling. He just lost the spirits battle, but his Aura meter was still full, and his opponent was on the edge of the red zone. So... How could he still stand with this much resolve in his eyes?

This was too much. "I see..." His blood was heating. "Redhead bitch is doing great at teaching you stuff..." Boiling now. "But this is planned... All is planned!" Even from high in the stands, Pyrrha saw the madman returning. "Someday, I will take you both on! Alone!

-Come on then." This calm and assured response was just what was needed to ignite the orange haired knight's fury. The latter wasted no time and charged like a frenzied bull. Pious Rogus started cleaving through the air with sadistic intents.

Before he could reach his target however, something made him return to his senses. Something that definitely was wrong:

The shield was here!

Hiding Jaune's upperbody from his reddened sight was the white steel of the protective piece of equipement, floating in mid air. The blond knight had kicked it off the ground, like one would do with a skateboard. The protective half of Crocea Mors soon met its owner's arm, and moved in position to stop the upcoming attack, revealing two focused cerulean eyes.

Just as flail and shield collided, the latter emitted a blinding light. Once again, Jaune's semblance had kicked in and protected him. Now was his chance to strike, and win as he promised, even if it meant seriously injuring his opponent.

The light dissipated, but his surroundings were darkening as well. It took some time for the pain to register, but it finally did. Cold metal was smashing against the left side of his skull. A cold dark metal.

In the end, Jaune understood: Be it uncounsciously, Cardin had it planned. He found the perfect parade to his defensive power: When the head of the flail was blown away, it didn't affect the wielder, since the aftershock wasn't relayed through the chain. Worst yet: His opponent even benefited from it, going along with the reaction by doing a full turn and accelerating enough to deliver a counterattack on the defender's unprotected side.

. _..Pyrrha...'m sorr..._ " His last thougt died as he collapsed right on the spot.

"Knockout! The victory goes to Mr. Winchester." Glynda announced the end of the fight, only to rush to blond boy's side as quickly as she could.

Good news for JNPR's leader: he was still alive... But it would take quite some time in the infirmary before he would be able to hear that himself.

The remaining members of the team came to help, doing their best at carrying their friend to the infirmary despite his heavy battle gear. Pyrrha glared at Cardin several seconds during their intervention. The latter shrugged it off.

Inside, He was overflowing with satisfaction. His hard work had just been rewarded, and in such a way! He destroyed his blond target in no time, even with the latter using the invincible girl's tricks. "Soon, it will be you. We'll see what kind of look you'll give me." He whispered, thinking about her action not long ago. It strangely did not angered him that much, proof that he was in bliss.

The whole process took at most 2 minutes, and soon the combat class resumed. "We'll proceed to the next fight. Mr. Winchester, please get back to your s...

-Actually..." Cardin interrupted Glynda. "Professor, I'm still good to go." He pointed his status on the main holographic screen. "All green."

The headmistress took some time to reflect, and then concluded: "Fine. Since your first fight ended quickly, you may stay for another. just one however." She faced the audience, but still took the time to subtely add: "I hope I won't have to send anybody else to the infirmary because of you." And then to the assembly: "Does anybody wish to spare against Mr. Winchester?

-I'll do it!" Yang had her arm up to ask permission, but since she was standing it was just comically showing how eager she was.

"Alright Mrs. Xiaolong. Mr. Winchester?"

Cardin froze as he heard who it was who just challenged him. He heard a lot on Yang's... Feats. She was on his not-to-mess-with list ever since. Taking her reputation into account, he might end up just like Jaune...

But refusing the fight? After a victory? Against a girl? _If I want people to respect me, I can't back off at every difficulty..._

"Mr. Winchester?

-Yay, Cardin! Ready to get your ass kicked?

-You're on, Xiaolong!"

* * *

 **Aaaand action!**

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	11. Chapter 11 - Without Purpose

Chapter 11 - ...Without Purpose

 _Why did I ask for another fight?_ Cardin wondered, as Yang jumped straight into the ring.

"Ms. Xiaolong! Next time, use the stairs like every student!" There was no 'please' in Glynda's warning, the sign that if the blonde girl were to repeat this feat, she would be in serious trouble.

"Sorry professor!" With that excited tone of hers, there was no way of telling if Yang took the lecture seriously.

"You both know the rules. Are you ready?" The headmistress wasted no time preparing the upcoming match.

The two students nodded, Cardin after a bit of silent grumbling and cursing on his decision. He aknwoledged the coutdown however, and focused on his opponent. A natural reaction for someone who doesn't want to lose... Without too much pain.

If one thing was sure, it was that she would come straight at him. Not that she had no way to fire projectiles, but just the fact that she likes to punch things up-close. Him included.

He picked his first move accordingly, all that was left was the sorceress to start the fight...

"Begin!"

In a litteral bang, the blonde brawler used two rounds of Ember Celica to propel herself toward her target. She shifted stance in mid air, one fist forward, ready to knock Cardin out, superman-style!

The latter was glad he guessed right, and hurled Pious Rogus into a full-power vertical strike. But again, he forgot an important point...

All the way during her flight, Yang had kept one gauntlet ready to alter her trajectory. She and her sister were quite adept in the aerial movement departement. In a mixture of adrenaline and disrespect, she fired another time to stray on her left, but only slightly. The flail only grazed her, but her extended hook still managed to land on the orange haired knight's shoulder.

"Fuck...!" This wasn't that painful, but for him, it still announced the color. _How am I going to hit her?! Think!_

Time he had not, as the brawler landed on the arena wall, only to bounce back toward him. He reflexively tried a circular attack to catch any horizontal movement, but that was something the battle-hardened Yang already saw billions of time. The counter was now natural for her: Fire a round to go up, and hit the head with all you got.

 _Urgh...! Flail is no good...!_ He concluded, while recovering rather quickly from the blow. He saw her come again from behind, and faked a flail swing. _Be fooled...! Be fooled...!_ He repeated, until he saw a muzzle flash from the corner of his eyes. _Yes! She's going left!_ And with that he attempted a sobat kick to catch the stinging bee.

But he took yet another hit. Cardin missed the following second because of the heavy punches his skull just sustained twice in a row. Even after trapping her, she exceeded his speed and went for a second change of direction, resulting in CRDL's leader current state. It was really bad, he had no way to defend, except... _Fuck the finetoning... It's now or never!_

For Yang, the path to victory was already lit. She could repeat her charge attack another 15 times at least, and her opponent was far too clumsy. Every strike left havok in its wake, but there was no way it could graze her. "Pfft... I expected better!" She whispered, visibly annoyed, before she lauched herself again.

The yellow missile had its target locked. _Gonna finish this quick... Hmmm?_ She noticed something off about Cardin's current swing. _Can't he even aim properly now? I'm not going that wa...!_ And then the flail started howling through the air, spinning around the handle, and effectively covering the boy's entire frame. She fired reflexively to dodge, but the attempt was rendered useless by the aspiration from Pious Rogus. In mere seconds, her opponent managed to accelerate the mouvement until the black metal could only be seen as a low growling blur. She was sucked toward the violent vortex! She braced herself. _This is gonna hurt!_

 _It worked!_ Cardin wasted no time and used his weapon's momentum to strike the girl. He saw her crash on the ground the same way Jaune did in the previous round. "Eh...! Not so tough huh?" he taunted, now that he had found the perfect counter.

"You wish." whispered Yang. The pain was still coursing through her left arm. But it wasn't enough to stop her. Not now, as she started to heat up.

For CRDL's leader, seeing someone rise after what could be considered one of his strongest moves like nothing happened was... Shocking. So much that he actually voiced it: "Are you fucking kidding me?! How?!"

Staring down at first, she finally looked up to meet his eyes with her own crimsons. A huge smirck appeared on her face. "'Cause I'm fuckin' burnin'!" Was the answer. The last word had been said in Cardin's face, as Yang moved like a golden flash, too fast for him to even see, and the she started relentlessly pummeling his torso.

"Wow... I didn't expect someone to actually withstand her hits that well..." Blake knew the real power behind her teammate's punches. Her attention, as well as Weiss', were forcefully caught the moment Yang ignited.

"Isn't she taking this a bit too... Seriously though?" Asked a dumbfounded heiress before the blonde's particularly rash behaviour.

"I think so too... Aouch...!" Ruby winced empathically upon seeing her big sister preparing her favorite blazing hook.

"Uryaaah!" The brawler shouted fiercly, while setting her Aura-empowered fist in motion, heading straight to Cardin's jaw. The blast resulting from the impact resonated in the whole room. She grinned. It had been a long time since she last used it, at Junior's club precisely.

It was supposed to be bright right now, with the flames and all. Not all black. And why was her skull hurting? Yang opened her eyes and started focusing again. She saw her opponent still standing, all worn out. One more second to get all her faculties back, and then she also registered him settling down from a previous rotating movement. "Dammit...! That backswing blow again!" she hissed.

"That very same move he used against the previous boy to turn tides..." Cinder observed. "But it won't be enough this time." She eyed the main screen, showing both fighters Aura levels. Cardin's was now red.

"Alright..." Glynda switched the arena's lights on again, and approached the center to announce the obvious result.

 _What... What is this...?_ Was wondering the still dizzy orange haired boy. On the flail's head were some... blonde locks?

"You..." A sudden heat came from behind him. He slowly turned to see two red eyes glaring at him. "What did you do...

-Ms. Xiaolong!" Warned the headmistress, who started drawing her crop, knowing too well were this would lead.

"...TO MY HAIR!" Flames erupted from her like from a miniature sun. Two rounds were fired behind her, with a deafening and blinding burst as they were shot powered by her fully-awakened Semblance.

Time then slowed down for the both of them.

For Cardin, there was no time to process.

There was no time to react to this ball of fury hurling toward him.

So there was only instinct left.

His hand strengthening its grip on Pious Rogus' handle.

His arm carrying the huge titanium weapon to meet the threat.

A mysterious white glow coating the black alloy.

The latter starting to pierce air as all that was in its path, even the air, was erased from existence.

It effectively allowed the flail to move at unnatural speed.

And he caught up with his aggressor's attack.

Even if the now berserk Yang was blinded by rage, everything from her body, to her instincts, up to her Aura screamed at her to stop. Her Semblance even seemingly developped a mind of its own, and burned forward like a rocket reactor, in an attempt to slow its wielder.

Yang aknowledged all the signs and reacted accordingly. Following her inner fire's exemple, she aimed in front of her and started firing repetitively, attempting to stop right on the spot.

But it was already to late.

Pious Rogus connected with the defensively held Ember Celica.

There was no resistance. Entire sections of the golden gauntlets were erased, until it created a malfunction in their revolving chambers.

And then Ember Celica exploded.

* * *

"YANNNNNNNG!" Ruby's desperate scream called. She rushed to her sister's side, leaving behind a trail of rose petals and tears.

Glynda was already tending to her, kneeling, and taking golden overheated metallic parts off their owner's arms with her telekinesis.

"Yang! Please! No! Wake up!" pleaded the crimson haired girl.

"Ms. ROSE!" The headmistress called, or rather shouted, startling Ruby and freezing her arms in place, which were previously nearing her big sis' shoulders. "Stay calm, and let me finish this! If I don't remove the remains of Ms. Xiaolong's weapon, she may lose her arms! And if you don't handle her carefuly, she may lose more!" It succeded at making her shake less and swallow her tears, but Ruby still couldn't take her eyes off the laying form of Yang.

Two hands patted her shoulders as her teammates arrived seconds later. "She's right, Ruby..." Said a caring Blake.

"Ms. Schnee?

-Yes professor!" Weiss's hand left her leader shoulder. She stood stiffly but ready.

"I need someone experienced in the use of freezing dust. Your teammate's arms and some shrapnels need to be cooled down. Do you think you're up to the task?"

Of course she felt so, but she still gave Ruby an asking sideglance. The latter nodded affirmatively. "I'll do it."

And then the following minute was spent with careful medications from both sorceresses, until the uncouncious Yang had her arms purged of any intrusive metal fragments, and bandaged to lessen te bleeding.

"She isn't endangered anymore." Concluded Glynda after checking the blonde girl's state. She and Weiss let out sighs of relief. "But we need to bring Ms. Xiaolong to the infirmary right away."

"We..." Started both Blake and Ruby.

"I'll do it...!" They were cut by an unexpected person, none other than Cardin.

It took some time for the girls to process what he said, but not too long before Ruby exploded in anger: "How dare you...!" She sniffled, but there was no way it could make the heinous tone fade away. "Stay away from her! You monster!

-I...!

-Shut! Up!" Each of the little leader's breaths were ragged... No. Rather growling with repressed anger. Tiny hysterical bits sometimes tainting the low sound. "Look what you did to her! And to Jaune before!

-But I...!

-We're fighting for people! We're fighting to protect! You...! You only know how to destroy!" There was now only one infuriated string of words left in Ruby's mouth, which she not so long ago swore she would never tell anyone in Beacon. It was the suprem insult for her, she even had nightmares about beeing told that: "You're not... You'll never be a hunter!"

And Cardin stood there, unable to look at her, and unable to retaliate.

Because there was nothing to avenge. Worst, someone had all the rights to exerce vengeance upon him.

"Beside, Mr. Winchester..." Glynda tried to solve the querel as pacifically as possible. "You don't even have the stamina to..." And then she froze, agape. "Yellow...?!" The sorceress whispered to herself, double-checking the aura level. _It's impossible for someone to recover this quickly... Even for Mr. Arc! How can it be?_

But Cardin was indeed, and suprisingly, in better shape than when the round ended. Physical shape at least, because the young man was clearly in stress, his thoughts racing.

"Fine." The headmistress resumed. "Take her to the infirmary, Mr. Winchester.

-What?!" Ruby's fury was now directed at her professor. "How can you?! He's the one who injured her! I'll never let him...!" Crescent Rose extended.

"Ms. Rose! Your sister was the one who attacked first!" Glynda shouted.

The little but dangerous leader took one step toward the one she held reponsible.

"Ms. ROSE!" The threatening tone made everone's heart skip a beat. There would be no third call. The headmistress' crop was creaking under her iron grip. She would not be late this time. "Let Mr. Winchester do what he must."

Ruby slowly transformed the scythe back to its sheated form, and stood aside, but still with her jaws tightly shut.

Cardin passed before her, catching the muffled "You'll regret this." from the trembling tiny frame.

He kneeled, and with extremely cautious movements that suprised everybody, placed Yang in a comfortable position, akin to a sleeping baby. He even stopped halfway through to take of his armored top and gauntlets to be sure they would not make the unconscious girl uncomfortable. The overall process took less than half a minute, and then he lifted Yang like she was a feather, departing for the infirmary.

"Alone." Glynda said to Blake, who was preparing to follow, and also the rest of CRDL from afar. "She will need you." She gestured toward the faunus' leader, who was now sobbing again on her knees, Weiss already trying to comfort her.

The sorceress cleared her throat loudly, intending to catch the attention of all the students, and then concluded: "Due to special circumtances, this class will now end. I sincerely hope that all of you learned from this particulary unfortunate accident. As hunters and huntresses in training, you're all, without exceptions, wielding great but dangerous powers." she paused, jauging the youngsters' reactions, which were far too silent. "Did I make myself clear?" She deemed necessary to ask.

"Yes... Professor..." The voices were hesitant, but in a good way: this was affecting them a lot, making them think twice about the burden they were already carrying. But inside, the witch still regretted that the lesson took a turn for the worse...

"Children... How long will they be able to play the part?" she whispered. Rembering Ozpin's words after teams RWBY and JNPR's devastating food fight. She could hear reassuring words from two girls of one of said teams, and their 15 years old leader who was still in tears.

"Dangerous, indeed." That pleased comment however, muffled between other whispers of the Haven group, the sorceress couldn't catch.

* * *

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 **God that season 3... Don't know if I should thank or hate the writers.**

 **At least I'm now spoiler-proof.**


	12. Chapter 12 - Mend and Break

**Hello again. I'm late, aren't I?  
**

* * *

Chapter 12 - Mend and Break

Even if he was walking at a steady pace, the habitual 5 minutes journey to the infirmary felt unnaturally slow.

Not because he was hindered, nor because he wasn't serious about it.

It was exactly the opposite.

The girl weighted nothing in his arms, and he was dead set on bringing her to the medical wing the fastest he could.

It was his fault after all.

Cardin's face was devoid of emotions.

That wasn't the case of his brain and heart though. The first was working at full speed while the second was beating like crazy.

 _It was her fault!_ His fast-beating organ tightened.

 _She attacked me!_ It tightened some more, hurting him.

 _I only defended myself!_ The pain was now almost unbearable.

At this moment, he understood that this was beyond everything he had done before. Far beyond.

There was no way he could find excuses, shaking it off like nothing happened.

Something awfully real happened.

He wounded her.

I could have killed her... The pain softened, replaced by an ice cold grip.

He was still feeling it, the sadistic thrill of power, coursing through his arms.

But for very first time, the guilty pleasure was nowhere. As much as he wanted to rely on it, he couldn't find it in the myriad of uncomfortable sensations.

They flooded his whole being, as soon as his opponent fell.

 _Blondie..._

His memories of the scene were terribly accurate.

 _No. Xiaolong..._

Cardin witnessed everything.

The boiling shards of her destroyed golden gauntlets penetrating her skin, sinking in her arms...

And for the first time since he departed, he winced emphatically.

 _Tell me Xiaolong... Did it hurt?_

Such a useless question. Of course there would be no response, he silenced the girl himself...

 _Yes. An awful lot. For sure._

Aside from the reddened bandages, just the sight of her slumbering, but undoubtedly pained face, could give away the answer.

He arrived at the infirmary. One of the nurses had been waiting for them, and she promptly led him to one of the intensive care rooms. He laid his victim down on a white couch, and was then quickly sent away by the staff.

He kept looking at Yang as long as he could through the door's window, but eventually the curtains were closed.

Cardin stood alone in the white corridor for quite some time, instinctively knowing that if he were to move, the train of negative thoughts would start again, faster than ever.

"Mr. Winchester?"

He turned slowly, to face the headmistress. There was no hint of resentment in her voice, nor in her blank expression. The knight answered: "Yes?

-I suggest you leave quickly. Mrs. Xiaolong's teammates will arrive shortly, and I don't want to risk any fighting. I wo...

-I understand." Cardin said, already on its way out before she could finish.

She sighed, not in the mood to reprimand him. She wanted to use her energy sparingly, since there was still a lot left for her to do.

Two hospitalized students meant the redaction of several accurate reports: a literal mountain of paperwork.

And then, she would have to discuss another matter with the headmaster: whether or not the one who caused this should be punished, and how severely.

"Professor?" The student called, stopping in his tracks.

-Can this wait, Mr. Winchester? Team RWBY is already on its way." Glynda said, eyeing her scroll, and the knight who was still facing away.

-Is it alright if..." He paused several seconds, searching for the right words. "Can I... Come again? Check on her?

-I would prefer that you don't, but if you really insist..." She frowned. What an out-of-character request.

-I do." came the boy's stern reply.

There was no need for Glynda to see his face, just by hearing the subtle hint of regret, she knew that it affected him, a lot.

"Then notify me first, Mr. Winchester, so that I may schedule your visits. I think we both don't want you to run into Mrs. Xialong's friends right now, don't we?

-Yes..." It wasn't a question of them retaliating, but rather of him not being able to face them.

"Good.

-Thank you, professor..." And after that courteous response, he left.

She watched him, witnessing his normally bold and boisterous body language now reduced to a mere shadow of its former self.

Glynda could tell that the granitic ego was now reduced to rubble. It was as if her student's new weapon, in hurting someone, had crushed its wielder instead.

But perhaps the most interesting thing was the slight stop the knight marked in front of the room they both knew his other victim, Jaune Arc, was resting in.

The sorceress' lips curled up in a faint smile.

Finally.

* * *

Emerald was following her boss diligently. The latter's interest had been sparked by the previous incident, and as result she was in a good mood.

The thief was also pleased to see Cinder like this. She was after all the confident woman who recruited her, gave her a purpose, and freed her from what could have been an eternal street rat life. In return, she swore loyalty to her.

"Emerald?" The fire witch's voice brought her back to her senses. "Aren't you gonna answer this one?

The dark-skinned girl had been spacing out, and thus failed to notice her scroll vibrating in her pocket.

-I'm sorry! I'll cancel it right a..." She drew the scroll from her pocket, and as her finger neared the hang up button she saw the name and paused. _Russel?_

"Hmm? The dancing Mohawk?" tried Mercury.

"Do I?" Completely ignoring the brawler, Emerald sought approval from her superior.

"This is your plan, carry it on." Cinder answered with a smirk.

The girl reciprocated with a genuine smile: "Sure. Please go on ahead, I'll catch up as soon as I can." _Now what with this idiot..._ She thought while leaning on wall.

She started to read what appeared to be a long string of messages. No wonder why they all assumed it was a phone call.

 **Em** _,_ the girl irked silently, still as pissed as ever when addressed with the diminutive. It served its purpose at giving her puppet a sense of intimacy, but she still hated resorting to this trick. **you saw that fight too right?**

 **boo me, I saw you**

 **it was kinda weird and all, and**

 **anyway**

 **I'd really like to talk with you**

 **like, asap.**

"Definitely rushed..." She grumbled. Even the idiot felt something from the previous encounter, and given the propensity his team has always had to lack clear interactions and roles outside of bullying, he decided to come to her.

In a way, he was all but stupid. He sensed that something was off, wrong in so many levels that he subconsciously decided to escape the hold of those rotten ties. He's less of an hypocrite than the others, that's the only thing she'll ever give him credit for.

Maybe it was the moment after all. They already chatted lots since they first started dating, or so Russel thought, but she still had not succeeded at bringing forth her target's weaknesses. Not the easy kind, she already had plenty.

No, what she was after were the most subtle ones, which would allow her to dive in his psyche using her smooth words and a bit of Semblance, then turn his world upside-down, show him part of the truth.

Because ultimately, Russel was disposable. Russel will have to die.

Her thumb hovered over the reply button several seconds, pondering her next move.

 **Haven section, the roof. I'm coming. She'll have to move quick.** The boy was still no slouch when it came to freerunning.

 **This is progressing nicely. I will be back later.** She sent this second message to Cinder.

Further into the academy, the fire witch smiled upon reading those words. "Let us snatch their pawns."

* * *

"Oh, you're already here." Emerald remarked once she finally made her way up to the top of the Haven building.

"I just arrived." And here he was, sitting on an edge, feet over the void, and definitely sounding weak. It was a first for her, seeing him down. "You alright?" He asked with concern.

"I can live with it.

-Of course." The boy said, acknowledging the fortitude of his love interest. "I should do the same, but... I can't." He admitted.

"Why?" It really was a blessing for her that he felt that secure when she was close, gracing him with her presence. The buttons were so easy to push.

"I'm scared of him. You know..." It was still difficult for him to go on with his confession, even with the cat already halfway out of the bag. "Cardin, he's changed. Everything we knew about him's gone! And the others, they can't see shit! It's almost... Sad..."

Emerald took several seconds to take in the fear-turning-into-wrath, and then she started pouring oil on the fire: "We're surrounded by people who... Can't see shit." It was important to use his words, even if she wasn't the vulgar type.

"Yeah, totally! Right?" Somewhere inside, Russel's anger made him cross a line.

"I hate that. I would like to open their eyes! See what we see!" She played along. The occasion was too good to miss. Her target's rebellious nature was rendering the game almost dull.

"Yeah, me too!" He was now totally engrossed by the perspective.

"Tell me, Russel..." Now was the important part. "If I told you that I have a plan to do exactly that, what would you do?

-You?" The green-haired boy caught the not-so-subtle hint, and tried to play it cool. "I would help you! Why are you even asking?

-Thank you, Russel." Emerald beamed beautifully, mixing the act with the satisfaction. Her plan couldn't be more successful.

Despite Roman's failure, all will be ready for the festival.

The kingdoms have always been pieced forgeries. Soon enough, they'll be tatters again.

When it falls.

* * *

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 **I won't lie to you all who took interest in my story (no matter how much plagued with mistakes it is), I may not continue.**

 **I have the ideas, I know where I want to go, but writing in English is a tedious process which takes a lot of time and energy. Even more so without a beta reader.**

 **On a side note, never underestimate the reviews' positive powers! Right, winddemon199?**


	13. Chapter 13 - Greyscale

**Hello again (gosh, I miss you Pyrrha)! Hope you'll enjoy what will certainly be, for various reasons, the last chapter of CRDL's Realization.**

 **More on that in the end note, 'cause now it's story time:  
**

* * *

Chapter 13 - Greyscale

"Excuse-me professor...!" Ruby called through Port's class, in an uneasy manner. The man stopped ranting and hummed interrogatively, showing her that she had his attention. The tiny leader continued: "I don't feel well at all... May I go to the infirmary pleaaase?"

"Please, eat healthy, children." said Weiss with a sigh and a fake pout, audibly enough for the whole amphitheater to hear. With her overreacted performance, the redhead needed that kind of push to obtain her ticket out. She was glad her partner-in-crime quickly reacted and supported her scheme. Heck, the ice queen even managed to season her line with some healthcare innuendo.

"Urgh, I hate you!" Ruby played along.

Port scratched his mustache while pondering his decision, and then approved: "Fine. Any volunteer to...?

"GoshNeedToHurrrryyyyyyy!" In a literal flash, Ruby exited the room, her last syllabe fading the further she went.

This drew a smile for some, including the professor, and laughter for the others, but Weiss and Blake knew better what it was all about.

* * *

Risking severe punishment several times for both running in the corridors and far exceeding what could be qualified of non-threatening speed limit, the girl reached the medical wing in a couple minutes.

And here she switched to a normal pace, because as concerned as she was, it was disrespectful for patients and doctors alike.

That, and she was deliberately infringing headmistress Goodwitch's schedule for visiting her dear sister. Better safe than sorry.

Now she was a mere corridor away, ready to make the turn, when she was suddenly pulled back with a weak yelp.

"Shhhh." Sky advised her, with the according finger-on-mouth gesture.

"What are you doing?!" The tiny leader asked aggressively. All the while she tried to escape his grasp on her hood, but it soon proved to be impossible without causing a ruckus.

"And you?" The boy was a bit shaky, obviously not sure of what he was doing, but he was holding well.

"I'm going to see my sister." Now, let me go!" Ruby sounded determined. It was the absolute truth after all.

"Can't let you do that." Sky answered, flatly.

"And why is that? If you think that you can keep me here, you're mistaken!" She was ready to struggle if it was some kind of bad prank.

"Well, you're not on schedule. What would Goodwitch say?" He had a point. Escaping forcefully would trouble the infirmary's calm, and she indeed wasn't supposed to be here in the first place. But...

"How do you know about..." Ruby asked in an inquisitive whisper. She and her team should have been the only one to know about the visits. "No..." And then it all made sense. The schedule, Sky here to preventing her from meeting a certain someone... "He is here?!"

"Oops..." It was inaudible, but he knew for sure he just screwed up. There was no point in lying anymore. "Yes, he is." But on the bright side, she was still bound by the headmistress' rules. He had a chance to talk this out rather peacefully.

"How dare they let him go near my sis again!" Ruby was trying her best not to shout in rage. She felt betrayed by the battle teacher she respected.

"Listen. I don't know what you think, but Cardin isn't a murderer." Sky told her, with conviction.

"He is a butcher!" The redhead retorted.

* * *

"Hey!" The quarrel stopped upon hearing the weaker than normal voice of a convalescent Jaune.

"Hey Jauney..." And that was definitely Cardin with him. Curiosity temporarily overcoming the previous argument, Ruby and Sky both creeped around the corner to see what was going on.

The blond knight sat on the waiting bench in front of Yang's Room, just next to the orange-haired one. The latter was in what appeared to be a position of deep thoughts, hands hiding the lower-half of his face.

"How long has it been?" Jaune desperately tried to get the conversation going.

"You should know better, I sent you here at the same time." Nothing but the average blunt and aggressive Cardin tone.

"Ow, hehehe..." The blond boy regretted his choice of opening topic, but he kept going regardless. "Yeah, sure. Three days. How could I forget...?"

"Cut the crap, Jauney." The bully faced him with rising anger. "If you want explanations, there aren't! I'm sorry. Now piss off, I still got 10 minutes to kill, alone!"

"Sorry boys, but that's an infirmary you know?" And now a third person just appeared from the opposite end of the corridor. From her hidden position, a certain redheaded girl held her breath in to muffle an incoherent string of words, fortunately happy ones.

"Sorry." Said Jaune weekly, while Cardin breathed in to calm himself.

"No harm done." The stranger answered, reassuringly. He kept on approaching and looked at the door. "Room 102..." Then at the boys. "Seems she didn't lose any time. Who's the boyfriend?" He asked with a joking smile.

"Heeee?! No, we aren't..." Jaune started to refute the affirmation with a furious blush, but then something tilted as he observed the man further. "Holy...! You look so much like her!"

Cardin finally took the time to look at the stranger, whose hair and overall style betrayed obvious family ties with the comatose girl in the next room. His heart began beating hard.

"That much?" The man answered calmly.

"I'm Jaune, Jaune Arc!" Jaune welcomed the newcomer with enthusiasm. If he was blind to love hints, it was the exact opposite for family ones.

"Taiyang Xialong." There was something in his voice. The blond knight could bet that Yang inherited her golden heart from him. The only difference would be that her father's matured from an outgoing teenager to a more focused parent. "I assume you were here when it happened?"

"Well I..." Jaune started confused, not sure how to explain. "I wasn't there. I only heard about it. I just recovered, and this is my first time here visiting her. And actually..." He paused to look at both ends of the white corridor, narrowly missing the spies who hid in time. "I thought I would see Ruby here."

"It's still classetime. I'm sure she will be there a minute after the bell."

The girl felt a tiny ping of guiltiness in her heart at that statement.

At the same time, a feint scroll alarm ringed. Cardin stood up, bluntly stating "I have to go."

His time was up, so he took the opportunity to get away from what was by far one of the worst situations he could have imagined. If the atmosphere between Jaune and Taiyang could be perceived as friendly, it was one of suffocating pressure for him.

Neither of them stopped him, the orange-haired knight couldn't have been more fortunate.

"Jaune." Taiyang asked, with a suddenly monotonous tone.

"Uh...! Yes?" The boy was taken aback by that sudden shift.

"That boy. It's him, right?"

This, the blond knight couldn't answer. Because it wasn't something that he should say. It wasn't his role, nor his right. But his silence spoke volumes.

"So it is him." The man's expression became melancholic. So much that Jaune felt obligated to ask:

"Hum, sir? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. More so than you anyway!" Taking a deep breath, Taiyang collected himself instantly. "Sorry, boy. That was a bad joke..."

"Baaaah, that's the truth! And we're all kinda used to weird humor anyway." Jaune snickered.

Both paused for nearly a full minute, enough for Ruby to seriously consider revealing herself and meeting her father after so long. But Jaune prevented that with an hesitant new question.

"Sir... I don't know if it's invasive or not but..."

"Don't worry, go on." Taiyang already figured out what kind of question it would be.

"Well, if you knew Cardin did... Well, you know the guy who was there with us and... Well, you see who and... Anyway, if you knew, why didn't you say anything?"

The man laughed heartily at how puzzled Jaune's speech had been. The latter scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. At the corner, Ruby pricked up her ears, interested as much if not more than Jaune about what her father's reason was.

"You see... Nobody... Nobody is fully black or white. You can't put a target on someone's back on impulse, judging that this person is bad, and that you're good as well as in your right." Taiyang paused, pondering how to explain his point. "I loved a girl. With my previous example, you could say that she was a total eclipse! But even so, I was attracted. She opened my eyes, taught me how to see the bigger picture, how to go past what appeared to be simply Manichean. That immense amount of darkness in her heart was in fact what fueled a scarce, but incredibly bright light." Taiyang stopped suddenly, seeing Jaune's overattentive expression. "What?"

"Eh? Nothing! That's super interesting! And then what happened?"

"Just remember the black and white thing..." The man hastily concluded his rather personal display of knowledge. _In fact, I've already said too much._ He thought to himself.

Ruby, hidden in the corner all along, discovered a side of her father she didn't know. The description didn't match her mother Summer at all, so it certainly was her big sister's mom he mentioned. She felt sad that he never spoke to her nor Yang of this, and in a way she was also incredibly jealous of Jaune at that particular moment.

Something just changed in her quick-witted mind. She could relate experiences she recently had to her father's speech:

Weiss and Blake were textbook examples of grey girls, no wordplay intended, but their respective good sides are those which shine the brightest. Then, she knew she had deliberately done the target thing with Cardin. It was driven by rage and hatred. However, those negative emotions aren't the fabric of a real huntress. So, in the end, she still resented him, but was now ready to accept that a part of him really regretted this accident, and that good part may grow by letting him tend to her dear sis.

On a side note, a certain someone just forgot why he went there in the first place, and ended up hearing everything. Sky was now carefuly backing away from Ruby, not wanting any attention from the person described earlier if she happens to be her mother.

"Excuse-me sir?" Jaune once again interrupted Ruby's attempt to reveal herself.

"Yes?"

"Does... Does that mean that Yang will fall for Cardin?!"

* * *

 **(bonus quote) "For the love of…! Don't think about it too much!"**

 **that may seem useless now, but still: Review - Follow - Favorite**

 **So first I'd like to thank Spring Dragonfly for betaing this chapter. Hope you'll still be around if I ever resume writing.**

 **I said before that I had ideas, but they don't fit my current vision of RWBY anymore. The balance of power has shifted too drastically, simply killing my original goals and characters. I just can't write them now, they feel far too AU for my likings.**

 **And then, there's also the total disappearance of team CRDL. I had a feeling they would be left behind, at least for volume 4, and while I still can't say if it's for good, the future is looking grim(m) for them.**

 **CRDL's realization started as an end-of-volume-2 "what if" fic, and it will die this way.**

 **My sincere thanks to all of you who took a liking in my story and its mere 30.000 words!**

 **Know that I have other RWBY-related ideas, but they're very experimental. PM me if you want to know more, but you're warned: !EXPERIMENTAL!**

 **papyLaPlage, out!**


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